WWDC Alerts: not to miss the train of WWDC

Victim of its success! Last year, the 5,000 tickets for the Apple Developers Conference (WWDC) were gone in 10 hours . The program with both iOS 5 and OS X Lion was particularly attractive indeed.

Nevertheless, it illustrates the growing success of Apple solutions to developers. In passing, we recall that the ticket costs just over € 1000. To this, add one round trip to San Francisco and accommodation costs.

2012: Challenges for Apple -II

The MacBook Air as a source of inspiration?

End of 2010, the MacBook Air was introduced as the future of Mac. And coincidentally, the site of Apple computers to promote OS X Lion are systematically MacBook Air. Last year, Apple has pushed the point home by giving its ultraportable processor powerful enough that it can be used as a primary computer. Will the "revolution MacBook Air" will finally contaminate the rest of the range or will it expand with the arrival of a new model with a 15-inch screen? It is inclined to favor the second hypothesis. In this case, the question is whether Apple will give a "facelift" to its professional range or if it will let it quietly grow old and accelerate the transition to the MacBook Air.

Your best Mac OS X - I

Last week we offered you a selection of applications to discover the same time as your Mac. We ask you then your own advice and many of you to respond to offer applications.

Here is a selection of ten applications from your proposals. If you have any questions to ask regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact us!

QuickTime, 20 years of digital video - I

On December 2, 1991, Apple gave the world the first version of QuickTime, which triggered a technological revolution. At a time when digital video was completely replaced analogue, it is time to render unto Caesar what is his by right.

We imagine perhaps with difficulty, but without QuickTime, we would not have digital terrestrial TV or Blu-ray in every home, as we know it today.

Buying a Mac for Christmas

The holiday season approaching, and with them the traditional gifts. Whether you want a Mac to provide a loved one ... or yourself, here are some tracks. It is all general advice and our favorite heart to guide you, not quick fixes that apply to all - hunting gifts would be less funny if not.

A Mac with less than 800 €? 

If your maximum budget is less than € 800, quite clear limits are needed.

Testing the LaCie Little Big Disk 240 GB SSD Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt devices are still rare, while the new standard is promising: it concentrates a data channel and a video channel at a rate up to 10 Gb / s in both directions. Storage specialist LaCie has every reason to be interested in: the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt, with two 120 GB SSD, is offered at € 849. The price performance?

Apple: a multinational support themselves finally

For many years, the financial position of Apple is growing at an exceptional rate, without the company itself follows. This has often earned the nickname Apple "start-up multinational." In 2011, the Cupertino company seems to have taken the measure of his status.

A number of employees rose sharply

49 400 employees in FTE (full-time equivalent), Apple has increased to 60 400 FTE employees, with a further 2,900 FTE employees who are consultants or part-time. Apple now hiring more than 10,000 people per year, equivalent to half of its payroll in 2008.

Testing MacBook Pro 13 "2.7 GHz Core i7" Thunderbolt "(early 2011)

With the update to its line of MacBook Pro, Apple has not done in half measures: while the Core 2 Duo stagnated since 2009, the top model of MacBook Pro 13 "is now equipped with an Intel Core i7 processor with the highest frequency ever seen in a Mac with this diagonal screen, 2.7 GHz.

A small MacBook Pro with large processor

Little or nothing distinguishes this MacBook Pro 13 "Core i7's Core i5 little brother, the exterior design to its HD camera FaceTime through its port Thunerdbolt, we had the opportunity to describe in detail in our test MacBook Pro 13 "2.3 GHz Core i5" Thunderbolt ". Processor and graphics chip, meanwhile, are quite different.

Testimonials: you, your Mac and Flash

Nearly a year in October, Apple does preinstalls more Flash on his Mac. A decision that mimicked that of Microsoft Windows, but also followed the passage of arms around Flash iOS between Steve Jobs and Adobe. Hence the subject of this appeal to witnesses who asked the question whether the policy had changed your habits vis-à-vis this plug-in. The answers provided show various positions and trenches and strategies that are just as among those who kept Flash, but want to hold her bridle. Yes to FlashThe reasons are obvious to install Flash. Adobe technology is far from being replaced.

 Video sites have begun their moult - and yet not all, Canal + has been repeatedly cited as requiring the presence of the plug-in - but many others use it either for promotional content, either through to online tools "I surf more on iPad for some time and we must recognize that many sites require Flash. DIY sites, major retailers of home appliances, computer equipment, etc.. In fact, I will summarize the usefulness of the reader with access to catalogs, the realization of selections or purchases. So back to the iMac ... "wrote wsalado.Same is the ubiquity of Flash with vintz72 "In any new position (PC as Mac), I go very fast in general that he lacks Flash. There is indeed a lot of sites that still use it (partially, but sometimes the whole site is that the Flash).

Commercial sites use it extensively (Citroën, Peugeot, etc.. To name brands of cars). Those who say you do not need should not surf much. In short, until everyone has remade its site in HTML5, I must have Flash and I always install. On my iPod touch, I surf few specific apps and make up for the absence. ""I Flash in-dis-pen-sa-ble: I work in photography and graphic design, given the number of photographers Flash websites (including mine), you can not do without. This is the first plug-in installed in Firefox. And that's also why a iPad is irrelevant "says Norbert75. After the Flash users and those who would pass before there is the middle position.

That which is to have the plug-in on his machine, but use it sparingly, when you can not do otherwise."I do not use Flash Player as it slows down too much navigation and is too hot my MacBook Unibody 2008. But I use an extension (ClickToFlash) that allows me to see the contents when needed. ".This use ClickToFlash was mentioned several times. This extension hides the contents of web pages and Flash can play them on demand. You can also choose the sites where ClickToFlash can act and let down in others. "I use ClickToFlash since purchasing my iMac 27" 2009 and before that on my 24 "... This year, after buying a mini with Leo, the first installation of Flash site met, immediately followed by of ClickToFlash. Contrary to what I read, having lots of RAM (in my case) does not change much, it is mainly the processor that is sought. "Said Ianni.GasyKaManja alternates between two browsers "Mac's Safari or Camino with ClickToFlash with reading Flash blocked by default. I flash to 95% and I do this only when friends send me interesting links: YouTube, Daylimotion, only Flash videos.

Or on certain sites only (that of Disney, my bank) or when I have to book or buy something. "The use of a blocker is also highlighted by the older Mac users that the plug-in is broken down.ouviravecAnother solution for Flash without its drawbacks is to enlist the services of Chrome. The plug-in from Adobe is integrated into the Google browser. Therefore one can have a free OS X and Flash for Safari Chrome away when a site or page is needed. The switch from one to the other browsers is even easier. In the Safari menu "Development" contains the command "Open the page" that lists the browsers present. The current page in Safari will automatically be launched Chrome. To enable this menu, go to Safari Preferences and then at the bottom of the panel "Advanced".No FlashThe camp brings together different profiles of refractories. For example owners of older machines somewhat like that of Madalvée "I became a" no flash "in spite of myself on my Power Mac G5 with Tiger, where the software is not updated. Only a few fantasies we are prohibited, such as online shopping site of Adobe (too bad for them) and the sites of those who apply the latest (too bad for them too).

The sites of fans who wear a FrontPage design (a web authoring tool from Microsoft, ndr) of the 2000s are still rich and interesting! "There are also Mac users very recent and have not installed the plug-in after purchase "In my case, not at all in Flash for over a year and a half of my machines, including a MacBook Air 2011 "written rom54" and frankly it is rather a big advantage over any pub is almost more than the browser crashes, less consumption for the computer (the fans do take longer depending on the way sites visited by cons ... I installed Java). Ditto for my wife who has turned his cell phone and flash using the Internet to view iPad. Short life without Flash is rather pleasant.

"Since moving to Leo, I have not bothered to install flash. He has no real use in certain specific web applications ... that I do not personally. Now, the videos can be played natively, and YouTube (video-only service I use) allows, in its HTML5. "Said MacArthurEU.Another module quoted on a few occasions, one designed for these sites and videos that will force them to play their content in HTML5 with options on the definition used by default. This extension, YouTube5 can work with YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook.

iPhone 5: a "very different iPhone"

Fall will be here in a few days. As of September 22, icloud iOS and 5 will then exit at any time. These two sites are also very well advanced and there is no doubt that they will be completed both in the next few weeks. But the icing on the cake, it will be obviously the iPhone 5, whose output is only a matter of weeks. On or about October 15, if we are to believe the statements a little forced and forced to Stéphane Richard, in addition to other ...

Easy Access To The Password of Mac 10.6 and 10.7

Passware, a company specializing in the recovery of encrypted data or circumvent passwords, advertises a security vulnerability in Mac OS X that Leo has not filled. This, says the president of Passware, you can recover the password of the user account of a machine. This extraction involves, however, having first physical access to the machine and then use the FireWire port and hoping that a basic control system is disabled. If the conditions are met, the application of Passware retrieves an image from memory and to find information. The operation would take only a few minutes, regardless of the complexity of the password and the activation state of FileVault. This is one of the new features Forensic Kit 11, the application Passware sells (just under $ 1000) for example to government authorities, private investigators and others who need access to machines locked. This tool is developed on Windows. This version also allows extracting the contents of the Keychain Access in Mac OS X. The multiple modes of access to the password limit the risks. Passware also states that its approach does not work if the user disables the one hand, the automatic opening of the account (the password is not stored in memory in this case) and also if switched off his machine rather than leaving it on standby. This vulnerability is also present in Snow Leopard, and having informed Passware says Apple. In a statement to Cult of Mac, the president of the company added that the security flaw has been fixed in Windows 7.

App: CheckUp, monitor the health of your Mac

CheckUp is a utility to obtain information on your Mac and your system to display an activity monitor on the CPU utilization of your disks, network or memory.

This application, published by the company ADNX.com, has a graphical interface rather original and enjoyable. Once launched, CheckUp just put a window type drawer on the side of your screen. It provides access to various features of the software through the icons.

These icons allow you to display, respectively, from top to bottom:

General information on your Mac (serial number, OS, IP address, etc ...)

• A monitoring of the occupation of processors in your machine
• A monitoring of the filling ratio and the use of internal and external hard drives
• Monitoring network, display speeds for sending and receiving data, and the various connections made by web applications launched
• A list of the different processes running on your Mac
• A summary of data (number of apps installed, many widget, fonts, etc ...)
• A history of recent crash

It is possible to reduce the view of the drawer or to access the software through the preferences icons at the bottom of the drawer.

When clicking on an icon, a new drawer opens, displaying some of the information available. It is possible to enlarge the window again to get more information by clicking on the button at the top left of the drawer.

Example of top drawer and the window for more info Data for part:

CheckUp But not content to simply display information. Indeed, this app has a warning tool interesting. As soon as it detects a problem, the first tray icons are colored orange to alert you the trouble.

It is then enough to go to the appropriate window for the details of the error. Note that it is even possible to set some alerts: alert me from X files in the trash, if the computer does not have enough RAM, etc. ...

In summary:

Checkup, keeps an eye on the health of your Mac
Version 3 ~ 13 MB

7-day full demo, available for 29 euros on the publisher's website

Checkup Download for Mac OS x 10.6

What is a pro for Apple?

The release of Final Cut Pro X two weeks ago illustrates the ambiguous relationship that maintains Apple with its business customers. A number of long-time users of Final Cut Studio felt "betrayed" by Apple considering that this version had many gaps and it was more like Final Cut Express, the light version of Final Cut Pro, only to the last.

Apple, the term "Pro" has been overused. It has been widely used in its products including its line of computers. There is one side, the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro, and the other, the iMac, the MacBook Air, MacBook and Mac mini. Although the Mac Pro may be a special case, none of these machines, however, is intended for a specific audience. Thus, the MacBook Air, originally designed for the executive wanting a lightweight and compact machine, does the same professionals that the happiness of students, for example. But what does the term Pro then?

These are not the interpretations that fail to tell the truth. Ken Seagall, the term Pro simply changed their meaning in the term of the Cupertino Company over time. He cites as evidence the Pro section of Apple.com, which has not been revised since ... 2009. On this page, we have customer testimonials types of Apple: the war photographer, editor professional music producer, journalist ultramobile ... All are unique to fully exploit the Apple solutions and to have an almost unlimited IT budgets. In this design as a professional with the creative core target, Apple has moved to a definition a little less "ambitious" or perhaps less cliché. According to Ken Seagall, the term Pro at Apple now means "high performance model" whereas before it meant that it was something designed for professionals with extremely demanding requirements well above those of mortals.

This new service has to be the merit of being clear and involve more people. You use "up" your computer and its tools, you are a professional. This definition also is probably not denied by Sachin Agarwal, who has worked for more than 2002 to 2008 on Final Cut Pro. It is somehow the same opinion as Ron Brinkmann, the former head of Shake, which recently said that Apple did not care professionals. The market "Pro" as such is too small for Apple. The segment of interest above all is that of the professionals. This word is the fusion of the words "professional" and "consumer" (general public), a much wider segment in which Apple can better express them.

Sachin Agarwal said that when he was at Apple, the purpose of Final Cut Pro was not to engage in a race to the functionality, but to offer a powerful product, easy to use and much cheaper than the competition. To some extent, with Final Cut Pro X, Apple has entered a new phase. Left to sacrifice some features, the video tool is more affordable (at all points of view) than its predecessor.

Mac OS X Lion Redesigned !!!

Believe, the latest build of Mac OS X Lion brings something new on Find your Mac. In previous betas, some evidence suggested that Apple would incorporate this feature in Mac OS X, this no longer seems to be doubted that with new build which includes among others an icon for this service.

Also found in the system, a reference to find my Mac Messenger. 9to5 messenger believes this would make the link with the user in case of computer theft. Left to speculate, it is not surprising that this new feature takes place in icloud.

Failing to make big new features, this version seems to have many cosmetic changes here and there. Thus, the download manager in Safari has been reviewed. The bubbles in iChat have also been slightly redesigned, like the bars of tabs in preferences. And they put forward some changes that reflect a listen to criticism from the first users of Leo. Like buttons showing a panel is selected. In this beta they have taken a more traditional look of button pressed and darkened.

In previous versions of Leo, Apple had also inspired iOS with a principle that the ruler is moved and displayed in a tone remained clear enough to indicate the current panel. This was not necessarily explicit.

The future of Apple MobileMe $ 20 per year?

The redesign of the online service MobileMe Apple would bring with it a new fee that could rise to $ 20. Therefore not free, but a price below 79 Euros currently asked.

A new rumor is in addition to those already many surrounding MobileMe, the service pack online from Apple. This includes webmail, an online photo gallery and a feature to remotely locate its iPhone, MobileMe would experience a major update soon, specifically in April.

The latest rumors are not all consistent. iLounge announced a revamped version free; The Music Void speaks him a subscription to $ 20 per year. For this price, the new MobileMe include storage space in the cloud on the music, allowing listening to his nightclub from anywhere.

Apple has already reached an agreement with Warner's, while a deal with Universal Music and EMI should be achievable without much difficulty as The Music Void. Sony remains that show less endorsement.

No keyboard / Dock for Apple iPad 2

Predictably. If the iPad first generation has seen some dedicated accessories keyboard / dock which had been spoken here, there will not be the same for the iPad 2.

It's Phil Schiller, repeated here, which indicates a client Apple hint.

Asked whether a keyboard dock special is planned for the iPad 2, Phil responded that most users prefer to use the keyboard iPad Touch and in other cases they prefer the BT wireless keyboard to used with Apple iPad, iPhone and Mac!

One can imagine that sales have not necessarily been the rendezvous for the keyboard dock and an Apple iPad has decided not to renew the experience.

You had already spoken, we do not recommend this keyboard at all, less versatile than the BT wireless keyboard and especially complicated to carry with its dock protruding on top.

The Apple Wireless Keyboard Bluetooth is available on the Apple site at a price of 69 euros here, here's a picture:

Otherwise, for fans of keyboards, you should see the arrival of keyboard cases built in the iPad 2 as we have seen for iPad 1 here or there, with unfortunately too rare availability QWERTY version.

iPad, MacBook Pro: minor revisions until something better?

Apple Store closures expected to succeed at a steady pace in the coming days. The ball will start today with the arrival of new MacBook Pro. In terms of innovations, this new range is presented as an incremental update, which should be distinguished by the adoption of SSD arrays, generalized processor Core i and the arrival of the famous port Thunderbolt. But to iLounge, the best is yet to come. The next generation expected for 2012 should be a major revision with significant changes in terms of design. One thing is certain, it is not shortage of ideas to Apple (read: The future of the MacBook keyboard but will not with sensors).

But the most interesting revelations concerning the iLounge iPad 2. Lately, there have been lots of rumors going in all directions; some left waiting for this model would be commercially available in June, while others argued that the initial production of tablets is less than expected.

For iLounge, there is some truth behind these rumors, and Apple has had to readjust his plans.

The site cannot say whether Apple would respond to the problems encountered, we have the right to a minor revision of the device until better in the fall. iLounge mentions the possibility of an iPad 1.5 which could still be called iPad 2 but did not have all the features originally planned for this model. The Cupertino Company would deal with production problems in the short term and give a little air. To our colleagues, the situation resembles that Apple had known at the launch of the iPod touch 3G, whose camera was withdrawn at the last minute due to production problems.

Apple talks about the slow web apps

The controversy swells on Nitro, the JavaScript engine found in Safari Mobile from iOS 4.3. Earlier this week, we noticed that the web app were 2 to 2.5 times slower than the same site displayed in Safari.

Shortly after a study by Blaze Software said loud and clear that a Nexus S averaged 52% faster than a 4 iPhone to surf the web. However, this study was not conducted directly through Safari, but in a WebView.

These various data have not failed to create a little controversy, which once will not hurt, drove Apple to break the silence. One of his spokesmen, Trudy Miller, confirmed that the web views do not include all optimizations for Safari. Therefore, the study of Blaze Software is partly inaccurate. It is true that the iPhone's browser is slower than that of Android. By cons, running web app (thus bypassing the browser) is actually much faster on Android.

So why web apps are they deprived of Nitro and the lack of support for the HTML5 cache? For John Gruber, we must not see evil everywhere and think that the way the Californian Company focuses on native applications to web applications.

The real problem for Apple is safety. Unlike its predecessors, Nitro is a JavaScript engine that includes the time compilation (JIT). However, a JT needs to have the ability to mark pages in RAM memory as executable. However, unlike Mac OS X, Apple iOS prohibited on grounds of safety. Such a mechanism could lead to hijacked the execution of unsigned code.

In other words, if Safari 4.3 is under iOS much faster, there is a significant part-cons: if someone manages to exploit a vulnerability in its browser, then it can do much more damage than before. One can imagine that Apple has enough confidence in its browser to integrate such a possibility.

For Gruber, it is more likely that Apple will not stop there. He believes that to generalize Nitro web applications, there should be a web application to run JavaScript in a process separate and independent, a bit like Safari on Mac and PC that creates a separate process for Flash. In theory, this is what Apple is preparing for Webkit 2, whose project was announced last April: "WebKit2 is designed primarily to support the separate processes, where the Web content (JavaScript, HTML, etc.). made his living in a separate process [...] this model is comparable to Google Chrome, the chief dissimilarity that we have built straight into the structure, and it is easy to get to other browsers.

Flash 10.2 Android arrives today

Announced in early February after its release on Mac and PC, Flash 10.2 shall be offered for download today via its Android Market or updates OTA. This book is written for Android 2.2 (Froyo), 2.3 (Gingerbread) as well as some users already blessed Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).

In the latter case, it is still a beta and the audience is smaller - even if that geographically - as consisting of Xoom customers. The tablet Motorola will simultaneously receive its first revision system 3.0.1. More will follow before Flash 10.2 do it is proposed final version.

This new Flash Androphones provides video acceleration on H264, but only for Honeycomb. Another novelty reserved for shelves next Android 3.0, an improved browser integration, resulting in navigation and view more smoothly pages. Flash content embedded in Web pages should be better supported as well.

More generally, the performance should be slightly up on today's mobile. Flash applications and data on the PC that used to be used with a physical keyboard can be better managed on devices that offer a virtual keyboard. It will be displayed, for example automatically by the application when necessary. Adobe maintains a list of compatible devices with Flash.

Orange down a little price iPad and evokes the arrival of the iPad 2

In turn, Orange has timidly down the price of the iPad. It offers the tablet from Apple in its 16GB version starting at 249 €, 30 € less than previously. This price includes a reimbursement coupon of 100 €. The 32 GB is sold for its share from 329 € and 64 GB from 389 €.

By comparison, Vodafone has dropped its prices yesterday moved the 32 GB price of 16 GB, or € 279.90 and the 32GB from € 379.90. As we told you yesterday, if an iPad first generation seems you enough for your needs, rather go for a ride on the refurb.

Meanwhile, Orange has announced the imminent arrival of the iPad 2 of his shop, without giving details or on the date of availability nor its price ...

On the other hand, you are very likely to write about the release date of the iPad 2. Unofficially, the launch of the tablet from Apple is still scheduled for next Friday starting at 17 hours. These are certainly the latest information communicated received several companies responsible for disposing.

Still, it was exactly like last year before Apple decides to delay the marketing of the iPad in Europe of a month. The decision was reached directly from the United States without anyone (or almost) never have known this side of the Atlantic before. If Apple chooses to postpone the sale of its shelf internationally, stakeholders will - as always - informed of this decision at the last moment.

Anyway, we should know the end of the story early next week. Apple, which never misses an opportunity to brag after marketing a new product, is surprisingly quiet since the beginning of the week, just stating that the application for the iPad 2 is "incredible".