Apple has quietly updated its iMac lineup with faster CPUs, faster SSDs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and beefier graphics processors. Less welcome are iOS 7’s animations, which, as Adam Engst explains, are making some users physically ill. If you’re sick of paying too much for printer ink, Josh Centers reviews the economical Brother HL-2270DW laser printer. Those who have switched to a paperless workflow may be more interested in Michael Cohen’s review of Smile’s PDFpen Scan+ scanning and OCR app for iOS devices. Looking for a place to set your iPhone? Join Josh as he plays the Game of Docks with Apple’s new iPhone 5s Dock and Twelve South’s HiRise. If you use two-factor authentication with your iPhone, be sure to read Glenn Fleishman’s guide on what to do if you lose that second factor. In our latest FunBITS installment — in plenty of time for Halloween — Josh looks at… er… listens to Vanished for the iPhone, an audio-only survival horror game. Finally, don’t miss the three bits of original content in ExtraBITS this week, where we use only 125 words total to review the iPhone 5s Case, cover iOS 7.0.2, and explain how to add weather to the iPad’s Notification Center in iOS 7. Notable software releases this week include Pixelmator 2.2.1, Typinator 5.7, TextExpander 4.1, and ReadKit 2.3.1.
With the just-introduced 2013 line of iMacs, Apple upgrades its desktop Macs to faster CPUs based on the Intel Haswell chipset, and adds both faster SSDs and 802.11ac Wi-Fi support.
Some of the much-lauded visual effects in iOS 7 turn out to have a downside — they cause nausea in a portion of the population. You can turn off the parallax effect, but the animations are stubbornly persistent, despite serving no functional purpose. Has motion become the new skeuomorphism?
Do you reluctantly need a printer, but tire of money-sucking inkjets? Brother, have we got a printer for you.
The best scanner is the one you have with you, and with PDFpen Scan+ from Smile, your iPhone or iPad camera can become a pocket scanner, complete with OCR. However, the OCR feature could use some improvement.
With the iPhone 5s, Apple has gotten back into the dock game, but it’s now competing with Twelve South’s attractive HiRise. Josh Centers looks at both docks — which will reign supreme with his iPhone 5? When you play the game of docks you win… or you waste your money.
Two-step account logins have become widespread for many Internet services, including Google, Dropbox, and certain Apple ID-related activities. But what do you do when you lose that “second factor” that makes the login possible? Planning is key.
Vanished is a survival horror game with a twist — the protagonist is blind. Josh Centers takes a look at this unique game and dreams of how its concepts could make for the ultimate Daredevil game adaptation.
Notable software releases this week include Pixelmator 2.2.1, Typinator 5.7, TextExpander 4.1, and ReadKit 2.3.1.
This week in ExtraBITS, we have three quick original articles for you in addition to our usual links. In just 125 words, we show how to add weather to your iPad’s Notification Center in iOS 7, run through what’s new in iOS 7.0.2, and review Apple’s iPhone 5s Case. Tell us what you think of these brief bits in their comments! Then read on for the newly revealed history of the iPhone, news of how Martha Stewart might be the hero app developers have been waiting for, thoughts from Marco Arment on how to name an app, and why security researcher Marc Rogers isn’t bothered that he was able to hack the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.