Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been anticipating FaceTime for the Mac ever since we spied the feature on the iPhone, and now Apple is making our dreams a reality with a handy new beta Mac OS X application dubbed “FaceTime.” It’s not an iChat replacement; far from it, in fact. Instead, the standalone, lightweight app dedicates itself to FaceTime calls only, with no sign of your handy AIM or Gtalk buddy list to help you along. It pulls its list of contacts strictly from the Mac Address Book, with no editing available in app, and you’d better hope you have a good handle on that list of contacts (our Gmail-tainted version could certainly use some work). You have to click on a person’s name and then guess which email or phone number they have associated with a FaceTime account — none of the helpful icons from the iPhone have made it over to guide you. It took quite a bit of extra-FaceTime communication to sort out what was what, but once you guess at the right bit of info to place the call with, it’s typical Apple simplicity.

From the phone side it’s intuitive enough: call the email address associated with an Apple ID and you get the computer, call the phone number and you get the iPhone. Conveniently, your computer will “ring” even if the app is closed, though you can turn this feature off in System Preferences if it unsettles you. Hopefully Apple takes this “beta” moniker seriously and has some extra features to add before it releases the final version of the app. We also wouldn’t mind seeing this folded into iChat proper — why have two first party video chat methods? Either way, computer-to-phone conversations are here to stay. The payoff? The psychedelic experience of viewing four Paul Millers simultaneously.

Update: Want a special little bonus? You can apparently video chat with iChat and FaceTime simultaneously, though we tried to add Skype as a third conspirator into the mix and failed (there’s a pic of our experiment after the break). Oh, you should also know that there’s apparently no way to shut off the video in FaceTime outside of quitting the app or physically covering up the camera. EXCLUSIVE: Is Steve Jobs Watching You Sleep? More at 11.

Continue reading FaceTime for Mac hands-on: it works, it’s rough

FaceTime for Mac hands-on: it works, it’s rough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

CUPERTINO, California — Apple on Wednesday showed a series of mobile-inspired upgrades to its software lineup.

Coupled with the company’s netbook-inspired and Flash memory-based ultralight MacBook Airs, the newly unveiled plans suggest the company is readying a new approach to PC sales that’s modeled on its successful reinventions of the tablet and smartphone markets.

“Apple is taking some of the things that have worked well for it in the mobile space and applying it back to the Mac,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst with research firm Current Analysis. “Where that is most obvious is the software — with the app store and gestures.”

Apple previewed Mac OS X Lion, which blends elements of Apple’s mobile operating system iOS into the Mac. Lion is scheduled for release in early 2011.

Like the iOS-powered iPhone and iPad, Macs running Lion will gain access to an app store for third-party Mac software and new multitouch gestures.

That marks a significant shift in the way PC software is sold, said Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

“Software doesn’t come in boxes anymore,” Rotman Epps said.

Citing the company’s years of multitouch research, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the desktop multitouch gestures will center on the trackpad, not the display screen.

“Touch surfaces want to be horizontal, hence pads,” said Jobs.

The Mac App Store, which will incorporate automatic installs and updates like those in iOS, will be getting a head start: The store will open on the current Mac OS (Snow Leopard) in 90 days.

Citing the company’s success in selling mobile apps (over 7 billion downloads to date, including both free and paid apps), Jobs said the same basic guidelines would apply to its Mac App Store. Customers will be able to buy and download apps with a single click, installation will happen automatically, and upgrades will be made available regularly just as they are in the iTunes App Store.

The company will also split revenues with developers the same way it currently does, taking a 30 percent commission and paying the remaining 70 percent to the apps’ publishers.

“It’s going to be the best place to discover apps,” Jobs said.

Greengart suspects the move could lead to downward price pressures for new software — a good thing for consumers, but maybe not so much for developers.

“Consumers who buy packaged goods expect to pay a certain price for it,” he said. “With virtual goods sold through an app store that price may be a lot lower.”

The new App Store, which is being separated from iTunes for the first time, won’t exclude the possibility of installing other software, either from shrinkwrapped DVDs or through traditional downloads. But it will give developers an attractive new channel for distributing their work — one that potentially has far fewer headaches.

Lion will also include a feature Apple is calling Launchpad, which is essentially a homescreen for your apps, much like what currently appears on the iPad.

Apple also introduced a Mac version of FaceTime, a videoconferencing app that debuted on the fourth-generation iPhone. That means iPhone 4 owners and Mac users will be able to video chat with each other, whereas before the feature was limited to only iPhone 4 users. A beta release of FaceTime for Mac will be available today.

Apple also released an upgrade for its Mac software suite, iLife 2011, which includes new versions of iPhoto, Garage Band, iMovie and other apps. The iPhoto app now includes features such as Facebook integration and new slideshow modes; iMovie gains new audio-editing features and themes to automatically create movie trailers, among other tools; and Garage Band includes a new feature called Groove Matching that automatically adjusts different instrument tracks to be in perfect rhythm.

Additional reporting by Priya Ganapati.

See Also:

• What to Expect From Apple's Mac Event
• App Store Review Guidelines – App Store Resource Center
• Apple's App Store Director Sells His Own Fart Apps
• Apple App Store Bans Pulitzer-Winning Satirist for Satire
• A Call for Transparency in Apple's App Store

Photo credit: Brian X. Chen/Wired.com

Check back at the times below!

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (October 21st)

Continue reading Live from Apple’s ‘Back to the Mac’ event

Live from Apple’s ‘Back to the Mac’ event originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

As promised, Apple today offered a preview of Mac OS X 10.7, a.k.a “Lion,” which Steve Jobs says has been inspired by the company’s efforts with iOS. That inspiration has resulted in an expanded use of multitouch gestures (but not on a vertical screen), an emphasis on iPad-like full screen applications, and — here’s the big one — an App Store for OS X (which will also be coming to Snow Leopard). Also new is the Launchpad application launcher, which will give you an iPad-like grid of icons and let you create iOS-style folders for applications, and the all-new Mission Control, which offers a unified view of all your open windows, open apps, and your dock. No exact launch date just yet, but Apple says Lion will roll out sometime in the summer of 2011 — head on past the break for the full press release.

Continue reading Mac OS X 10.7 Lion announced, coming summer 2011

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion announced, coming summer 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Oct 2010 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Apple  | Email this | Comments

What will happen tomorrow? A new version of OS X? Tiny MacBook Airs? Verizon iPhone announcements? Tomorrow never knows… but Steve Jobs probably does. Even if we can’t predict the future, we can at least follow along with the present, right? That’s exactly what we’ll be doing tomorrow at Engadget, as we bring you the best liveblog in the business! Tune in at the URL and times below for the full scoop on just what Apple is getting up to. You won’t want to miss this!

Here’s the liveblog post you’ll want to plant yourself at, and here are the start times around the globe:

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (October 21st)

Apple’s ‘Back to the Mac’ event is tomorrow at 1PM ET / 10AM PT — we’ll be there live! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 23:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Liveblog  | Email this | Comments