All about apple products: March 2009

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

WeatherCal Adds a New Trick to the Bare Bones Lineup

WeatherCal may be a one-trick pony, but it is one nice looking pony all the same. This $10 release from Bare Bones Software marries weather data and iCal in a very elegant utility.
In a nutshell, WeatherCal creates calendar events in iCal with the five-day forecast for any location around the world. It starts out by [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Try FileMaker Pro 10. Get a free Business Productivity Kit.

If you own a small business, and you�re looking for ways to increase productivity, let FileMaker help you get better organized with its new FileMaker Business Productivity Kit. Whether you choose the Standard or Service Edition, the kit includes a 30-day trial of FileMaker Pro 10, a great collection of business templates, 30 starter solutions, and free database and marketing guides.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Coming Attractions: 12 Rounds

His girlfriend has been kidnapped. And the kidnapper (Aidan Gillen) tells New Orleans detective Danny Fisher (John Cena) that he can get her back only if he survives 12 Rounds of dangerous challenges. The taut thriller, directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cleaner), opens in theaters on Friday, March 27.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Unlocked iPhones for Sale in the UK Thanks to Play.com

I suppose it was bound to happen sooner or later, now that it is possible to unlock the iPhone for use on any GSM carrier, but Play.com is now officially offering a sim-free version of the 16GB iPhone for sale on their website without having first unlocked it from O2. According to Play.com, the offer [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Singing the praises of iPhone OS 3.0 software

�Looks like Apple hit a home run,� reports Stuart Dredge (pocketgamer.co.uk). �Games developers and publishers,� he explains, �have reacted with huge enthusiasm to the iPhone 3.0 software upgrade� and are �champing at the bit to get cracking� with the new Software Developer Kit. Like to hear what some of them are saying?

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

My iPod Shuffle 3G Experience

I�ve had my new iPod shuffle for two days and thought I�d post my thoughts on it. We�ve already covered the out-of-the-box and setup experience elsewhere, so I won�t repeat them here.
Playlist Support
I experimented with a few different setups, but finally settled on using three playlists:

One contains all my �recent� music (basically, everything added in [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Now you can buy or rent films in HD on the iTunes Store

Starting today, you can purchase box office blockbusters for download from iTunes in HD for $19.99, and films will be available as iTunes Movie Rentals in HD for $4.99 within 30 days after release. Pre-order Twilight or Quantum of Solace today, and you�ll be able to download them when they become available on March 21 and March 24, respectively. Transporter 3, Punisher: War Zone, and other select titles are available in HD today.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Mac OS X Pro Tip: Sharing Contacts with vCards

Virtual address card (or vCard) files make it very easy to add contacts to your own Address Book or share your contacts with other people. No need to enter contact data (and risk typos), just drag and drop to have street addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and more added to your Address Book. Want to learn more about vCards and how you can use them? Then take a look at the latest Mac OS X Pro Tip.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Password Management Roundup: 5 Apps to Keep Your Passwords Safe

Let’s say you’re trying to take over the world and bring all governments under your control. You have to keep records of all this stuff on your computer, of course. Now what if your plan is almost foiled because you chose a stupid password like the Egyptian variant of your Greek name? That’s not very [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

New Mac Pro perfect for power users

�The new (quad- and 8-core) Mac Pros, with their cutting-edge Nehalem processor technology, are able to execute more tasks at a faster clip,� writes Jim Galbraith (macworld.com). �And their new internal design makes adding hard drives, memory cards, and PCI Express 2.0 cards easier than ever. Apple�s most expandable Mac is the pro platform for power users.�

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

OnLive Will Make a Hardcore Gaming Machine Out of Your MacBook

The Game Developers Conference for 2009 is just underway, and already there’s some big news which has particular relevance for that rare and frustrated breed, the Mac gamer.
I’m a Mac gamer myself, and have pretty much given up the OS X side of things and just decided to do all my gaming in a Windows [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Apple Bluetooth Headset Discontinued: What�s Next?

It probably wasn’t Apple’s best-selling or best-loved product of all time, but it was tiny and cute. And you could see the rather sub-par battery life dwindling away to nothing via a perfectly integrated indicator in the iPhone’s status bar. But I never had one, opting instead to use my Sony Playstation BT device.
I’m [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Looking to build an iPhone app? iPhoneAppQuotes will give you three quotes to find a developer

It seems there is a service for just about anything you could think of, and the latest aims to make it easy (and hopefully affordable) for anyone to develop an application for the iPhone. The new website, iPhoneAppQuotes will partner you with up to three iPhone Developers who will discuss your project and let you [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

Google Voice iPhone app submitted for approval, hopefully coming soon

With the recent switch from GrandCentral to Google Voice I have begun to truly use the service, with that I had began looking for an iPhone app to make it even more useful. In the past, back when Google Voice was still GrandCentral there was an app called Grand Dialer, however that has since been [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

New iPhone coming in June? AT&T is saying yes

The rumors surrounding a new iPhone seem to be picking up steam, the latest, which comes courtesy of someone who is “pretty high up in AT&T�s food chain” is calling for a “new iPhone announcement around mid-June.”
According to the posting over on the Boy Genius Report, the new iPhone will be “faster and have [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

Elgato Releases Turbo.264 HD Video Convertor

Elgato is a company synonymous with television and video hardware products for the Mac. Today they announced the availability of Turbo.264 HD, a hardware conversion tool that offers a fast way to encode video between formats or move video off your HD camcorder.
Many different software tools exist for converting video on the Mac, ranging from [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Spiral Frog: RIP

And so ends the life of another would-be iTunes competitor.
Spiral Frog, a Universal-backed subscription music catastrophe, has apparently called it quits. Though the service was �free� (using an ad-supported model), it still suffered from the five things that pretty much all subscription-based music models share:

A requirement for recurring activity
Limited content
Risk of losing music
Strict usage controls
Does [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Ballmer Scorns Apple As a $500 Logo

theodp writes "Speaking at a conference in NYC, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did his best to refan the flames of the Mac vs. PC rivalry: 'Now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction [against Apple],' Ballmer said. 'The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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[Source: Slashdot: Apple]

Quick Tip of the Week: Take a Quick Look at the files in Trash

Ever drag a number of files into the Trash, only to realize that you actually meant to keep one of them? Everyone has. In the past, finding the file you wanted to keep meant dragging them out of the Trash � one at a time or enmasse � and opening them. But Mac OS X Leopard offers an easy way to review such files without removing them from the Trash. See how in the latest Quick Tip of the Week.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

First Look: iPhone OS 3.0 Beta

Being enrolled in the iPhone Developer Program, I was lucky enough to have access to the iPhone 3.0 pre-release beta, which I installed on my iPod touch as soon as Apple’s servers recovered from the initial shock. I was a little hesitant to put it on my iPhone 3G right away, since it is my [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

The new iMac �is a sight to behold�

�With its sleek lines, thoughtful and minimalist design, large and beautiful screen, robust operating system, polished iLife suite of apps, and updated hardware, the new iMac is a great value for anyone looking for a desktop computer,� asserts Michael DeAgonia (computerworld.com). In fact, he thinks the affordable 24-inch �iMac could be exactly what a budget-conscious videographer or designer might choose.�

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Cha-Ching Touch Finally in App Store

If you follow Midnight Apps on Twitter, you know it’s taken the better part of a month. But they’ve finally navigated the App Store approval process, and Cha-Ching Touch is now available for purchase via the App Store. We gave an early look at Cha-Ching Touch (that is, the version available for iPhone or iPod [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Apple and AT&T Sued, Again, Over 3G

Macworld is reporting that Apple and AT&T are being sued, again, for the lack of delivery on their 3G network. This follows a long line of other lawsuits in San Jose, San Diego, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and New York "The lawsuit charges the companies with Negligence, Breach of Express Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability, Unjust Enrichment, Negligent Misrepresentation, Violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Other Similar State Statutes, and Breach of Contract. Dickerson is seeking to force Apple and AT&T to correct its labeling and advertising, as well as to recover compensatory, statutory and punitive damages."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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[Source: Slashdot: Apple]

Scoring Slumdog Millionaire with Logic

�I work almost exclusively with Logic,� asserts A. R. Rahman, the Oscar-winning composer of the music for Slumdog Millionaire. In fact, he�s �been working with Logic for almost 12 years. I use it as my writing tool because I can have it on a desktop or on a laptop. I can carry it all over.� Rahman has �looked at other programs but never cared to try them because the timing in Logic is the best.�

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

iPhone 3.0: Spotlight Search and how to use it

Highlighting another of the already announced features that will be arriving with iPhone 3.0 is Spotlight Search. Personally, I would say this should have been something that was added a long time ago, but regardless, I am still willing to say that this is going to be one of the most useful of the new [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

AT&T confirms �no-commit� iPhone 3G pricing, sales

We have recently seen those leaked presentation slides from AT&T regarding the “no-commit” pricing for the iPhone 3G and now AT&T has offered some official confirmation.
The sales will begin next Thursday March 26 (as expected) and they will be priced at $599 and $699 (again, as expected) for the 8GB and 16GB model respectively.
Of course, [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

Lots of New Apple Hardware Hinted at in iPhone 3.0 Code

When it comes to speculation about hardware, I like going to the code. Code doesn’t have “sources,” questionable or otherwise, and if something turns up there, you can be relatively sure it isn’t a ploy to deceive you (unless we’re being subtly manipulated, but that’s a conspiracy theory for another time). The recent iPhone [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

HD Movies Now For Sale in iTunes

Blu-ray took another today hit as Apple announced that it will be offering HD movies for sale (iTunes link), rather than just for rent. That means consumers can download HD quality movies directly into their iTunes library, for use on their computers or Apple TV, or TV-connected Mac mini, if you happen to be me. [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Opera 10 Turbo Gives Slow Connections a Kick in the Pants

Software innovations are often over-hyped, so I approached the Opera Turbo Labs preview version of the Opera 10 browser with — how shall I say? — hopeful skepticism. As one who has suffered (not too strong a word) with a slow rural dial up Internet connection for the past 12 years, I’m eager to embrace [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Weekly App Store Picks: March 21, 2009

It’s the weekend, traditionally a time for quiet contemplation of the freshest iPhone releases, welcome to the App Store Pick.
Hang on there one moment though because before we run headlong in to a stack of apps, we’ve got but a few moments to look at the latest happenings on TheAppleBlog this week.
First up, Neil Gaiman’s [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Fuel Added to Apple OLED Netbook/iPhone Rumors

Earlier I referenced a report by Australian news site Smarthouse�s David Richards saying Apple is close to launching a touchscreen �netbook type� computer according to unnamed Asian sources.
Richards is now citing sources at Korean OEM components supplier LG who tell him not only will Apple soon launch new OLED notebooks and flat panel monitors but [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Apple Bluetooth headset discontinued?

Whether you loved it, hated it, or just dealt with it, the Apple Bluetooth headset has seemingly been discontinued. As of now it is unclear as to whether the headset has been discontinued or simply taken out of the store due to problems.
So far nothing official has come from Apple, however the existing product page [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

Commander: Europe at War [(universal) Patch]

Spans World War II, allowing the player to control the Axis or Allied forces throughout the entire European Theatre. This update provides frame rate increases, faster unit selection, improved loading times, and much more.

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[Source: Apple Games - What's New]

Quick Tip of the Week: Email Rules

Did you know that Mac OS X Mail can help you organize the email you receive? In fact, setting up �Rules� in Mail is easy, a simple matter of selecting menu options, adding selection criteria, and choosing folders in which to file your email. By setting up rules, you can have Mail automatically file email by project, sender, priority, or other criterion. Find out how by watching the latest Quick Tip of the Week.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Seven Language Apps: Spreken Ze Francias, Por Favor

If one of your New Years Resolutions (remember those?) was to learn a new language, there are quite a few ways you can use your Mac or iPhone that will have you speaking in a foreign tongue in no time flat.
Keep Your Word
Keep Your Word is combination dictionary and flashcard trainer for the Mac [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

mophie unveils Juice Pack for the 2nd generation iPod touch

mophie has returned with yet another Apple related battery extender, this time it is for the 2nd generation iPod touch.
Basically, if you have seen or used the iPhone Juice Pack, then this will be more than familiar. Overall, the design is the very similar, the Juice Pack slides up over the iPod touch to [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

Fido to phase out 16GB iPhone 3G sales beginning in April

The rumors seem to be building up to the release of a new iPhone. We have already seen some information about carriers that are planning to offer the iPhone 3G at nice discounts. Now, Fido is adding their two-cents.
What we can tell you so far is that Fido has announced plans to discontinue sales [...]

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[Source: iPhonefreak]

The feeding strategies of Animal Chefs

Anemones relish Krill shakes. Pelicans won�t eat anything that isn�t perfect. And a diet high in Vitamin C can lead Lemurs to liver damage. So point out the chefs and veterinarians responsible for feeding and caring for the persnickety patrons of two of the more exclusive lunch counters in California: the Monterey Bay Aquarium and San Francisco Zoo. Catch their stories � courtesy of Quest � on iTunes U.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Thanks to TheAppleBlog Sponsors!

We’d like to say thanks to this month’s sponsor of TheAppleBlog:

WunderRadio: Wunder Radio provides access to thousands of streaming Internet radio stations and on your iPhone or Windows Mobile Phone.
Mozy: Back up your photos, music, and files with Mozy for as low as $4.34 per month.

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

The $899, 17-inch iMac for Education: Still Here, Always Has Been

News “broke” over the weekend via a leak from Apple itself that the company still offers the low-end iMac model with a smaller, 17-inch screen, though it is available exclusively for education customers. The news came via the Apple eNews for Education newsletter for March, although clicking the “Buy” link from the iMac page does [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Making medical discoveries on a Mac

Using the Mac Pro computers and the Mac-only microscope software Openlab, Dr. Ahna Skop captures images of cells in her lab during a crucial phase of cell division. A geneticist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Skop hopes Openlab and the Mac can help her better understand cell division defects, anomalous behavior responsible for cancer, miscarriages, and age-related disorders.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

App Review: Streaks � Rewarding You for Repetitive Behavior

A calendar specifically designed for tracking your goals, Streaks aims to join the pantheon of excellent iPhone productivity apps.
Both the touch and the iPhone, the latter in particular, are ideal platforms for productivity tools. The connected nature of the pocketable Apple devices means we can be grabbing all sorts of data about our daily lives [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Apple releases iPhone 3.0 Developer Beta, previews iPhone OS 3.0 software

Apple today announced that iPhone OS 3.0 software, coming this summer, will deliver 100 new features, including cut, copy and paste; MMS; landscape view for Mail, Text and Notes; stereo Bluetooth; Notes syncing; shake to shuffle; parental controls for TV shows, movies and App Store apps; and a new Voice Memo app. Apple also released an updated SDK, with more than 1,000 new Application Programming Interfaces, to registered developers.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

Apple Mac Mini 1TB Upgrade — Not Easy But Possible

designperfection9 writes "The new Mac mini is all well and good, but anybody hoping for gobfuls of extra capacity will come away disappointed. Apple's entry-level mini gets 120GB of storage, and it costs $175 to take that up the official 320GB maximum. Happily iFixit decided to step in and take matters into their own hands, with a nine-page pictorial guide to fitting your Mac mini with 1TB of storage." They're also offering a kit to accomplish the same end for $250 — that seems high to me now that 1TB external drives can be had for quite a bit less, and require no putty-knife action to install.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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[Source: Slashdot: Apple]

iPHONE 040 by MARK DHAND

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[Source: Apple iPhone]

iPhone delivers March Madness

�Live sports are coming to the iPhone,� notes an enthusiastic Jefferson Graham (usatoday.com). The action begins next week when MobiTV and CBS Sports bring 63 NCAA basketball games to iPhone and iPod touch customers who purchase the $4.99 March Madness on Demand app from the App Store. In fact, Graham notes, if multiple games are underway, you can choose the one you want to watch.

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[Source: Apple Hot News]

USB Tethering Working On iPhone 3.0 Through Hack

eviltangerine writes "Twitter user stroughtonsmith was dickering around with the carrier bundle files for his developer version of the iPhone 3.0 OS and enabled the USB tethering options. Apparently he has even been able to use his laptop to access the internet over the USB tether. MacRumors comments that while Apple has announced the availability of tethering, it hasn't hashed out the details with the mobile carriers (probably so they can charge more in fees). No word on connection speed, but here are some pictures of his phone while tethering."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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[Source: Slashdot: Apple]

iTunes Gift Card Key System Cracked, Exploited

moonbender writes "Fake but working iTunes gift cards are being sold on Chinese auction sites for a fraction of their value: 'The owner of the Taobao shop told us frankly that the gift card codes are created using key-generators. He also said that he paid money to use the hackers' service. Half a year ago, when they started the business, the price was around 320 RMB [about $47] for [a] $200 card, then more people went into this business and the price went all the way down to 18 RMB [about $2.60] per card, "but we make more money as the amount of customers is growing rapidly."' The people at Chinese market researcher Outdustry have apparently confirmed this by buying a coupon and transferring it into an iTunes account. Oops."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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[Source: Slashdot: Apple]

Apple�s iPhone 3.0 Designed to Defend Against Palm Pre

With trademark confidence, Kevin Rose was pretty vocal about what we could expect to see from the new iPhone 3.0 software this Tuesday, and he claims to have it on good authority from a source who’s “been right before.” The basic purpose of the update, according to Rose, is to anticipate and match features that [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Fonts 101: A Font Primer

Over the next few days, I will be covering everything from font management apps to how to deal with font problems. By the end of the week you’ll hopefully have a solid handle on how to manage and troubleshoot fonts on your Mac. We’ll begin this series by taking a look at the history of [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Fonts 401: Additional Font Resources

There were a few additional resources that did not fit in our rundown on font management applications. So continuing our Font School series, here are a few additional apps and articles on fonts.
Some Reading

Best Practices for Managing Fonts in Mac OS X - 5th Edition — This free PDF from Extensis is a great place [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

Give Your MacBook a Thick Skin: Seven Laptop Skin Companies Worth Your Money

The latest unibody aluminum MacBooks are fantastic, and I truly love mine, but I found out quickly that the aluminum surface doesn’t take kindly to scratching. Within the first week of owning it, I had an inch long nick in the top cover…it mocks me daily. So finding some adhesive skin options to protect my [...]

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[Source: TheAppleBlog]

iPHONE 046 by GREGORY RAIZ

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[Source: Apple iPhone]

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