Hasta La Gadget!

Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

Apple, Microsoft and the Mac have an interesting history: Microsoft was among the first developers for Macintosh, yet not long after, Apple would sue Microsoft for copying the look and feel of Mac OS in Windows. By the late 90s, Microsoft made a huge splash at Macworld with an announced 150 million dollar investment in Apple and promises of further development of Office and Internet Explorer for Macintosh. Office in particular was a major issue as it was a key requirement for business users. Early on, Office applications for Mac were far more advanced than their Windows counterparts. Excel was actually introduced for Mac users before Windows users could get their hands on it. But by the mid 90s, all that changed, the Mac versions of Office lagged behind Windows in terms of features and performance. It took forever to get things such as a common set of file formats, so that users of Office on the two different platforms could exchange documents with ease (it seems like something we take for granted but having managed and supported PC and Mac users in mixed shops, it was a nightmare to deal with). The latest version of Office for Mac, Office 2008 showed that Microsoft could produce top quality Macintosh software. I personally, think Office 2008 for Mac is the best version of the software that Microsoft has ever done (far better than Office 2007 for Windows, as it preserved the core part of the Mac UI while co-existing nicely with the ribbon UI). Obviously, however, a situation with such broad inconsistency is untenable.

Continue reading Entelligence: Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage?

Filed under: Software

Entelligence: Will Snow Leopard’s Exchange support earn Apple a new entourage? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, it’s not September, but we’re not going to hold an early launch of its performance-focused Snow Leopard OS against Apple. The Apple store has come back online bearing an order page for OS X version 10.6 in Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Pro… oh wait, it’s just $29 as an upgrade from 10.5. August 28th, that’s when, now go ‘n get it.

While you wait for that order to ship, Apple wants you to know that Snow Leopard’s Finder is more responsive, Mail loads messages twice as fast, Time Machine will complete initial backups 80 percent faster, and a 64-bit version of Safari 4 is 50 percent faster than its predecessors. There’s even QuickTime X with a redesigned player that lets users view, record, trim and share video. Of course, this release also includes Grand Central Dispatch, a new way for devs to take advantage of multi-core processors as well as OpenCL support to accelerate apps with the help of that idling graphics processor. Oh, and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange too. All in all, a worthy update, especially for the price.

P.S. Requires Intel-based Mac.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Snow Leopard shipping August 28th for $29, order now originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whether or not Snow Leopard build 10A432 is really the ready-for-shipment “golden master,” Apple’s own site is giving hope to the masses that its next platform iteration is gearing up for a launch sooner rather than later. MacRumors is reporting that a Mac Box Set containing OS X 10.6 , iLife ’09, and iWork ’09 popped up on Apple’s online store today priced at $169 for single users and shipping within 24 hours. The page itself no longer exists, although not before Google’s spiders managed to pick up on it. It’s probably wishful thinking to think this is indicative of a release before its projected September launch window — and really, at this point, that’s only a couple of weeks away — if you were gonna hope for it anyway, here’s some fodder for ya.

Read – Snow Leopard box set briefly appears in Apple Online Store
Read – Google entry for now-defunct page

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Software

Snow Leopard box set makes short-lived cameo in Apple’s online store originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been nary a fortnight since Amazon started taking pre-orders for Snow Leopard and now, according to the kids at Mac4Ever, a handful of “reliable sources” (their words, not ours) have stepped forward to proclaim that the OS has gone golden, meaning that this final iteration (reported as build 10A432, for those of you keeping track) is the one that will hit the stores in September. Additionally, MacRumors reports that in the time since this little bomb dropped benchmarks for the build have popped up — and quickly disappeared — at the Geekbench database. Make of all this what you will, dear readers.

[Via MacRumors]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Snow Leopard build 10A432 goes ‘Golden Master,’ mischievous sources claim originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sadly enough, this is pretty much par for the course with RIM. We talk about a BlackBerry for months on end, and after everyone grows acquainted with its features via less-than-official sources, the company finally confesses. At any rate, the long-awaited BlackBerry Curve 8520 (which may or may not go by Gemini on T-Mobile) has finally found a dedicated landing page on its maker’s website, and while the list of specifications aren’t a surprise, there is one thing that caught our eye. Alongside the 2 megapixel camera, video recording mode, WiFi radio, 1,150mAh battery (which is good for 4.5 hours of talk time or 17 days in standby), a fairly robust multimedia player and a 320 x 240 resolution display, RIM also promises “out of the box Mac compatibility.” Specifically, we’re told that users will be able to “sync contacts, calendars and notes” by using BlackBerry Desktop Software on Apple computers. Of course, when clicking for more information, we’re simply ported over to a page informing us that the Mac-specific version of the aforesaid platform won’t arrive until September. So, is the 8520 special, or is that August 5th ship date around 30 days off?

Update: RIM just confirmed the T-Mobile USA release date: it’s August 5th for $129.99 on a two-year agreement. Guess we’ll see just how legitimate that Mac claim is here soon, huh?

[Thanks, Marcus]

Continue reading RIM officially intros BlackBerry Curve 8520, promises “out of the box” Mac compatibility

Filed under: Cellphones

RIM officially intros BlackBerry Curve 8520, promises “out of the box” Mac compatibility originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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