When Steve leaves his computer, he doesn't want people to be taking at look at what he's up to. Enter Airlock - "Using your iPhone or iPod Touch, Bluetooth, and a smidgen of pixie dust, Airlock determines whether you're near your computer. When you leave the room - poof! - your Mac locks itself. “And when I come back?” You guessed it: your Mac unlocks. You can also customize Airlock to perform specific actions as you come and go - have your computer talk to you, log-in or out of iChat, walk the dog, and such."For all you guys worried about your ultimate HTPC Mac Mini and it's associated energy costs, worry no more. HardMac have revealed a pretty comprehensive comparison of Mac Mini power usages, and their findings say it all - the Mac Mini is a pretty green machine. Not literally, of course.
Most of my calculations are simple additon/subtraction ones that I'm too lazy to do in my head, which is why I love Spotlight's inbuilt calculator tools - but did you know you can round off numbers in Calculator.app? Doing so doesn't throw away precision, though - Calculator.app is smart enough to store the actual figure in memory (to a limit, of course). This tip courtesy of Macworld's ten quick Calculator.app tricks.
What's something that we don't have enough of, but is something that is basically essential for our continued productivity when out and about? Laptop energy. The answer to this riddle is something that we have an overwhelming abundance of - if only we had something to capture and use it. Stay tuned for the answer.
iDVD didn't get any love in the latest version of iLife, while all the others programs in the suite included with every Mac did. Now it's iDVD's time to shine, with iLife 2010 rumoured to be upping the ante with support for iTunes LP and iTunes Extras creation. Great for indie bands? We'll soon see.
NOVA is an iPhone game, and it's also been described as Gameloft's answer to Microsoft's Halo series, and by all accounts it seems like a solid FPS for the iPhone. For real, this time. Not like Eliminate, DOOM, Modern Warfare, Resident Evil, or any of those games.
Speaking of iPhone games, EA's platforming-adventure game Mirror's Edge is coming to an iPhone near you - provided you're happy with what could be the most aliased graphics I've seen since... well, ever. Jagged Edge may have released one of the worst hip-hop songs to date, but that doesn't mean they're welcome in my iPhone games, homie.
A Melbourne-based company found themselves in the frying pan after Apple's registration of the names "Macpro" and "Mac Pro" failed - they're now directly in Apple's sights. Props to Asher Moses on the title of this story - an apple-based pun for an Apple-based story? Genius.
Incase make awesome cases for your favourite Apple media player, and their gaming covers are no exception - they feature raised nubs which provides extra comfort during those long sessions of Eliminate (or your FPS game of choice).
I'm a little late to this party, but Frenzic is currently $1.19 on the App Store, and yeah, it's as addictive/engaging as they say it is - if you haven't bought this game, buy it now [App Store link].
The answer to the riddle is the sun, or rather, sunlight - which is exactly why QuickerTek have gone and unveiled their solar-powered Macbook chargers. It's a shame that solar technology just hasn't progressed to a point where it's viable on a large scale - the 55W charger, which is enough to power a Macbook Air but falls short of the Macbook's 60W costs a handy $1,200. US dollars, of course.
Friday Morning News