I had reeeeeealllly hoped we'd be done with lawsuits about Apple's displays, but apparently, it was not to be. As MacNN reports, law firm Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP has filed a class action suit against Apple for misleading customers about the display on the 20" iMac.
"Apple is duping its customers into thinking they're buying 'new and improved' when in fact they're getting stuck with 'new and inferior,'" said Brian Kabateck, Managing Partner of Kabateck Brown Kellner. "Beneath Apple's 'good guy' image is a corporation that takes advantage of its customers. Our goal is to help those customers who were deceived and make sure Apple tells the truth in the future."That's right, they're evil. Eeeeeeeeeeeevil.
Once again, it appears to all go back to Apple's description of the 20" iMac as supporting "millions" of colors, which the lawsuit contends that it is incapable of doing. The suggestion says that 20" and 24" iMacs use totally different technology for their displays, with the 24" using a 8-bit, in-plane switching (IPS) screen and the 20" having a cheaper 6-bit twisted nematic film (TN) LCD screen. The real problem, it appears, stems from the fact that the previous generation of 20" iMac used an IPS screen, meaning that Apple's taken a step backwards to cut prices and lessen corresponding performance—without, the lawsuit suggests, informing its customers.
My folks have a 20" G5 iMac, which I've always thought had a very nice display, but I haven't spent a lot of time with the new Aluminum models. Readers, your thoughts? Lined up a 20" iMac against a 24" and found it wanting? Or is it all just hot air? Let us know.
Yes. Several. And some of them have more...even better features, like session management, add-ons, social networking features, and more -- making the art of web browsing just as complicated as every other computer task.
Joe Kissell at The Mothership examined ten browsers -- Camino, DevonAgent, Firefox, Flock, iCab, OmniWeb, Opera, Safari, SeaMonkey, and Shiira -- and compared, contrasted, sniffed, and licked everything that makes them The Browser You Want to Use.
Each one has a set of features that more-or-less sets it apart from the rest: DevonAgent, for example, is focused on scouring the web for research, while Flock is for social network and blogging mavens.
Check Kissell's article for the full browser four-one-one, especially if you're bored with the simple bare-bones browsers whose most notable features are their address bars. I'm lookin' at you, Camino.
If you're a student interested in attending WWDC—minus the approximately $1600 it normally costs, it's time to get yourself in gear. The application for the WWDC student scholarship is posted at the Apple developer site and the deadline is the fast-approaching April 10th.
As the name implies, the WWDC scholarship offers a free ticket to WWDC along with complete access to all tech sessions and special events. Oftentimes, there's a special event just for student developers and a career fair where you can meet hiring managers from Mac development companies. All this adds up to a hell of an opportunity for students with Apple-related career aspirations.
This year's WWDC will be held at the Moscone West in San Francisco, June 9-13.
Apple launched the 802.11n version of the AirPort Express with little fanfare a couple of weeks back. You might think that the only real news here was that new little letter "n," but you'd be wrong. Dead wrong.
Over at the mothership, our good friend and colleague Dan Frakes put the new little brick through its paces, pointing out a couple of the Express's other new features, such as support for a protocol called ProxySTA that lets you turn it into a wireless-to-Ethernet bridge.
Is the new AirPort Express for you? According to the other Dan, potentially, if you're looking to take advantage of its media-streaming capabilities or you just want a second base station to extend your current network. Check the full review at the link above for all the nitty-gritty details.
If you've been envying your PC comrades for their ability to run up to four displays over a USB connection with the use of DisplayLink technology, we urge you not to fret. The company has released a beta version of their drivers for OS X.
With a compatible piece of DisplayLink hardware, any Intel Mac from the mini and the MacBook Air to the Mac Pro can use their USB 2.0 ports to support multiple displays, regardless of their graphics capability. But this is beta software, so it comes with its fair share of caveats, notably a couple of biggies: neither 2D or 3D acceleration is supported, meaning that some software (such as those that require OpenGL acceleration) won't run correctly. There's more in DisplayLink's release notes.
Should none of that deter you on your quest for quad-display glory, then you can hit the link above to download the free beta.
[via Engadget]
I've gone through my fair share of email clients on the Mac, but it seems like it's been a while since we've had a new challenger in this realm, given that a large portion of the user base seems to be on either Mail.app or Entourage. Email is, for many of us, the most important function on our computers.
Outspring Inc., makers of QuickMail, have unveiled a new product called Outspring Mail, which they're billing as "For those who take their email seriously." On top of supporting the standard litany of protocols like POP, SMTP, IMAP, and SSL, Outspring boasts that it uses "advanced database analysis and Bayesian logic" to observe how you use your email, with the end goal of making it easier for you. For example, if Outspring notices that you tend to get a lot of messages that are similar, to which you reply in the same way, it will offer to use one of those replies for subsequent similar messages. Likewise, with filing, it'll learn where you put certain messages and offer simplified filing options for similar messages. There's also a Defer feature that lets you read an email and then delay it for a certain amount of time, so it will reappear in your inbox at a later date (think of it as "snoozing" an email). On top of that, Outspring claims to have a 98% accurate spam filter, and it takes advantage of the same Data Detectors as Mail.app.
Sounds pretty cool, I have to admit. At the moment, I maintain two clients: Mail.app for my personal email, and Thunderbird for my work email. I actually loathe Thunderbird, so I plan on giving Outspring a try and see if it's really as good as it claims. Granted, it's a pretty hefty $95, so it'll have to be awfully good to merit dropping that kind of cash.
The awards, they just keep piling up for our favorite company. Last week, Apple came in number six on BusinessWeek's "star performers" list. Now, they've captured top spots in almost every category on the 2008 Brandjunkie Survey.
BrandChannel.com surveyed almost 2,000 of their readers (74% of whom are in the marketing field) to determine the answers to such long-standing scientific brainteasers as "Which brand would you like to have dinner with?"; "If you were any brand, which would you be?"; and "If you love that brand so much, why don't you marry it?"
Apple snagged top honors in six of the ten categories, including "What brand is most likely to revolutionize the branding industry in the next five years?"; "What brand can you not live without?"; and, my personal favorite, "What brand, if sent back 100 years, would have the biggest impact on the course of history?" Hmm. That's a great idea for a sci-fi story...
It wasn't all roses for Cupertino, though. They also grabbed the second place spot in "Which brand do you want to argue with?", following Microsoft, with respondents commenting "I think they exploit their customers' good will to extremes. How Apple gets away with it, that's beyond me!" and "Why must you introduce a 'new' product every 3 months!!"
It's hard to argue that Apple doesn't have one of the most recognizable and positive brands in the world. Then again, as we know, that also makes them an extremely visible target when something goes wrong.
And, oh, if you're curious, the brand I'd most like to have dinner with? The Pep Boys. I mean, come on, they look like fun, right?
As if I needed yet another reason to finally splurge and get an Apple TV, an update for the box has been released. You know me, I’m a software update fiend. I get an odd thrill seeing version numbers increase. You need to invoke the update by using the software update command in the general section of Apple TV’s settings.
Is there anything new? Or will we be forced to rely on a curt, almost antagonistic, description from Apple? No friends, there is something new. Genres have been added to the My Movies section to help those of you with large collections of movies.
Oh, and as usual, it brings the snappy.
You knew Dell had to respond. Somehow, this just seems right to me.
