Your source for indispensable Apple and Macintosh news, reviews, tips, and commentary since 1990.

 

Create SmartArt Graphics Diagrams from Lists in PowerPoint

In PowerPoint 2008, if you select a bullet list, click the SmartArt Graphics tab, and then click one of PowerPoint's SmartArt Graphic diagrams, PowerPoint automatically uses the text of your bullet list when creating the diagram.

 
 

Phil Schiller Delivers Lackluster Keynote

We woke up early, stood in line, and all we got were sore feet. Apple's last Macworld Conference and Expo keynote by Phil Schiller lived up only to the deflated expectations Apple set.Read more...

 

Apple's Canard of 100 Macworlds a Week

I've always been annoyed by Apple comparing the number of visitors to its retail stores in units of Macworld Expos. That's because that specious comparison is all about Apple, not its customers.Read more...

TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 12-Jan-09

Notable software releases this week include WireTap Studio 1.0.7, Things 1.0, Skype 2.8 Beta for Mac, PDF Shrink 4.5, CheckUp 2.0, and FileMaker Pro 10.0.Read more...

Undercover Adds Wi-Fi Location to Recovery

Another laptop-recovery program provides location information derived from Wi-Fi signals around a stolen computer.Read more...

Google has released a public beta version of Picasa for Mac at Macworld Expo this week. Previously, Mac users were limited to the Picasa Web Albums uploader and an iPhoto plugin, but now they have access to the full version of the photo editing and organizing software.Follow link

The popular fake news organization, The Onion, recently posted a hilarious video on its Web site featuring a look at a fake new Apple laptop, the MacBook Wheel. According to The Onion, the MacBook Wheel replaces the keyboard with a giant touch-sensitive click wheel, making everything on your computer, "just a few hundred clicks away."Follow link

iWork Turns '09

iWork '09 brings welcome improvements to the productivity suite, but they're mostly limited to eye candy for Keynote and things that bring Pages and Numbers closer to parity with Microsoft Word and Excel.Read more...

Apple Pioneers New Battery Tech with 17-Inch MacBook Pro

Apple completes the transition to the new laptop unibody design with the new 17-inch MacBook Pro, but takes a risky move by switching to a non-removable battery.Read more...

iMovie '09 Seems to Fix Everything from iMovie '08

iMovie '09 looks to be the video editor we expected last year, adding and improving on features that were present in earlier versions.Read more...

GarageBand '09 Adds Music Lessons

Interested in learning how to play your favorite songs on guitar or piano? GarageBand '09 has added Learn to Play music lessons to its bag of tricks. Read more...

iPhoto '09 Adds Faces and Places

iPhoto '09 now offers face detection and geotagging capabilities, along with integration with Facebook and Flickr, and new slideshow themes that can sync to an iPhone or iPod touch.Read more...

 

ConceptDraw Office adds real business power to Microsoft Office
and Apple's iWork. Whether you need project management, business
graphics, or mind mapping, it's all easily created on your Mac!
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Apple Moves to Unprotected Music, Tiered Prices

Despite the keynote focusing on Mac news, Apple also announced the removal of DRM from songs in the iTunes Store, tiered pricing, and downloads over 3G as well as Wi-Fi.Read more...

Jobs Clears the Air on Health Issue

Steve Jobs has written an open letter to put an end to speculation that his health was failing and to ask for support from the Apple community.Read more...

The Roku Player continues to change: after upgrading customers to HD output, Roku has forged a partnership with Amazon to offer the retailer's on-demand video. The addition will appear in early 2009. Amazon allows all devices associated with an account to access the same video library.Follow link

Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk for 05-Jan-09

The last few weeks' discussions look at the news of Steve Jobs not being keynote speaker at Macworld Expo and Apple's exit from the event after 2009, performance of online backup services, syncing calendars, and much more.Read more...

Going to Macworld Expo with your iPhone or iPod touch? Just in time for this week's show in San Francisco, IDG and Zami.com have released iMacworld, an app that provides a directory of exhibitors (including floor plans for the North and South Halls), products, and sessions. (Link goes directly to iTunes.)Follow link

Easy Now Up-to-Date to iCal Imports

Want to switch from Now Up-to-Date to iCal but scared about the amount of work in transferring all your existing events? Help is now at hand from the free NUD to iCal utility from BusyMac.Read more...

Adam's tour of the Macintosh podcasts and radio shows continues with a session Inside Mac Radio with Scott Sheppard to discuss the fate of Macworld Expo in the light of Apple pulling out of future shows.Follow link

Welcome to Macintosh Movie to Screen at Macworld Expo

If you'll be in San Francisco for Macworld Expo, you can catch not just the MacHEADS movie, but also a special screening of the new documentary "Welcome to Macintosh."Read more...

Subscribers to XM or SIRIUS radio services in the United States can now listen to their favorite stations on the Mac. The public preview release of Rogue Amoeba's Pulsar frees you from using dedicated hardware or listening via a Web browser.Follow link

NoteBook 3.0 Enhances the Page Concept

Circus Ponies NoteBook 3.0 builds on the previous version's outlining features with free-form text pages and the addition of shapes, lines, tablet-based drawing and handwriting recognition, and much more.Read more...

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