News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
News, Reviews and more from Australia's Macintosh Authority
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Looking to make your Magic Mouse even more magical? Calf Trail Software has released Sesamouse, a utility that offers more multitouch gestures to Apple's latest pointing device, such as pinch magnification, rotation, and up and down swiping.
Apple’s Magic Mouse has received mixed reviews, in part because of its lack of customisation and its untapped potential. In its factory configuration, the mouse lets you scroll in any direction and swipe horizontally. Sesamouse attempts to build on Apple's innovation by introducing more advanced multitouch features similar to those found on MacBook trackpads.
Pinch magnification is a particularly welcome addition. To get a hang of things, you can view your gestures as you practice them. Sesamouse also sends the position of your fingers as touch information for use by advanced multitouch apps.
Sesamouse is still very much under
development, and the company has made the software available for free
in hopes of getting feedback. The Website notes that the utility relies
on “undocumented system features” and that it might stop working when
Mac OS X gets a future update. To run the software you’ll need a Mac
running OS X 10.6.
Users who really like Sesamouse are asked to donate to Hatian relief efforts.
The timing of the announcement is a curious tactic for Apple. Announcing a refresh of a major product line six days out from theMacworld Expo is a little weird; I can't think why Steve Jobs wouldn'thave wanted to pull a big blue sheet off a Mac Pro (the Xserve marketis pretty specialised when you come to it) and startle the world withit. Then again, perhaps he's got something even snazzier in mind; aFlash-based MacBook Pro that costs $300, reads your mind, does yourironing and has a Time Machine that works with any wireless networkconnection.
Alex Kidman | Jan 10, 2008
The world has been rocked this week with the news that Apple has added Andrea Jung to its board of directors. That's right, that Andrea Jung, the CEO of Avon. That's right, that Avon, the door-to-door cosmetics company. Clearly this indicates a radical new direction in Apple's retail strategy: as well as mass-market retailers, specialised independent resellers, company-owned stores and of course online, Apple is now going to recruit an army of enthusiastic salespeople hoofing it from house to house with sample cases.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 11, 2008
It was one of those days. There's a maxim that to err is human, butto really stuff things up you need a computer. Robbie Burns also oncesaid (in my imagination) that "the best-laid plans of mice and men haveno chance againt modern technology". We had planned our coverage of the keynote so well. We had rehearsed, tested and run through. Nothing could go wrong.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 16, 2008
For watching movies, Jobs announced that the second iteration of the Apple TV will allow movies to be downloaded (and even rented) directly from the iTunes Store without the need for a computer to get involved. Of course, this feature is only relevant to Americans, but as an increasing number of Australians are figuring out how to access the US iTunes Store it's worth noting. The iTunes rental service includes both new release and "catalogue" films from all the major studios.
Matthew JC. Powell | Jan 16, 2008
This morning Apple released a new version of its iPhone SDK for developers. iPhone SDK beta 2 includes Interface Builder, a component of Apple’s development tools that lets developers create the interface for their applications. That seems to be the only major change in the latest build, according to the SDK’s read me, which continues to list some known issues. Apple says “this second beta is known to be incompatible with installation folders other than the default /Developer.” Given the importance of UI on the Mac, Interface Builder is a pretty critical tool in the development process, and some developers had chosen to hold off on their efforts until the SDK was revised. Apple unveiled the iPhone SDK at a special event earlier this month, allowing developers to begin building applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. Several high-profile companies have already jumped onboard, demoing their applications at the event. Highlighting the demos was AOL with a native AIM client; other applications from Electronic Arts, Salesforce.com, and Apple were also shown.
