Wi-Fi sync

Wi-Fi sync was always an option in iOS 5 beta 1 and iTunes 10.5 beta 1, but you couldn’t actually do anything with it. Now, once enabled, you can wirelessly sync with your computer, so long as both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. This will probably be the feature that most benefits the average iOS device owner, possibly short of the new notifications system.

OTA updates

Apple has reportedly turned on the ability to update over the air with iOS 5. Updates will also apparently work over cellular data networks, although some major point releases will have to be done over Wi-Fi. Some are speculating the next beta may be made available as a wireless update now that the functionality is enabled, so we’ll have to wait and see how well it works.

Backup to iCloud as a setup option

You can now choose to backup your device to iCloud right from the initial on-device setup. Before, you had to enable this after the fact through your Settings app. It’s a small tweak, but it brings the promise of a post-PC future for iOS that much closer.

Gevey SIM unlock blocked

If you wanted to use the Gevey SIM card to unlock your factory-locked iPhone or iPad, it looks like Apple is finally closing that loophole. Users report that beta 2 disables the Gevey hardware unlock, which was initially left untouched in iOS 5 beta 1.

New lock screen Notification style

Notifications now appear in a larger font beside their relevant app icon on the lock screen, and somewhat resemble their predecessors. If you don’t respond to them, they join the other notifications, lining up in sequential order at the top of the lock screen. In my opinion, this looks like an improvement, since it gives primary focus to new alerts as they come in, while it also still keeps track of everything that you may have missed while your device is locked.

Apple has also made a number of smaller changes, like the replacement of the iCloud icon in the Settings app with the metallic one that it has used in promo materials. SMS messages also look just a tad bit different; there’s an option to Group By Album Artist (which can differ from Artist in iTunes metadata) in the Music app; swiping up in Messages will dismiss the keyboard; the Stocks widget is turned off by default, and if your Notification Center is empty, it will display “No New Notifications” instead of nothing.

Any other changes we may have missed that you’re aware of?

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Well, last night, Apple released version 1.1 of the Aluminum Keyboard Firmware via Software Update. And as a man almost ready to buy Energizer shares (anything to try to win back the cost of paying for high-performance batteries every week) its description sounded very promising.

“This firmware update improves battery performance of the 2007 aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard when used in combination with other bluetooth devices (eg. Magic Mouse, some bluetooth headsets) and addresses an issue with the 2007 aluminum Apple Keyboard and the 2007 aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard where a key may repeat unexpectedly while typing. The update also addresses other issues.”

Promises Promises; the Aluminum Keyboard Firmware Update

I can’t say I’ve ever experienced the “key repeat” problem but I most certainly have watched in dismay as my keyboard greedily depleted — in record time — every expensive battery I put in the thing. (Remember that scene in My Stepmother is an Alien when Celeste sucks the flashlight batteries dry? Exactly the same.)

Coincidence?

Not unexpectedly, the update required a restart — but that was a trifling inconvenience in return for longer battery life! In fact, it was only a few days ago I put in a fresh set of expensive Lithium batteries and I wasn’t eager to have to buy more any day soon. Imagine my surprise when the following message popped-up.

Shocking! Annoying, too. Prior to the update I could coax 9-14 days out of my batteries. The current batteries have been in for only three days and I’m being told they’re on the way out? Surely that’s no coincidence.

So what’s happening here? Bad batteries? Or could it be that Apple’s update has made things worse?

Mixed Results

I headed back to the Apple Support pages to see what was being said. The experience of other Magic Mouse / Wireless Keyboard owners is so far somewhat mixed. Here’s what Creator2456 reports:

Did the firmware update […] The keyboard also REFUSES to stay powered on after the update. Already tried several batteries so it is not a power problem. The LED will light when I press the power button and then turn off within 5 seconds without pairing or anything.

Conversely, here’s a more ebullient comment from Xorgoo:

It works ! My alu keyboard (3 batteries) is reborn! 1% lost during the night, compare to 10% before.

And then there’s this warning from Freekarrot:

This update won’t work on recent 2-cell AWKs, which are heavily affected by the bug as well. Letting out an update just for one of the affected devices is ridiculous. It means they know what the problem is and how it is solved, but they either don’t know or refuse to acknowledge that ALL AWKs are affected!

Conspiracy theories aside, I really don’t know what to make of this sort of incompatibility. (I’m not sure what else to call it — ‘Not Playing Nicely Together-ness” doesn’t sound very smart; perhaps “malfunction” is better?)  I understand Apple doesn’t develop its own Bluetooth drivers (that responsibility is left to Broadcomm, the manufacturers of all Bluetooth radios in Apple’s machines) but even so, for their own equipment to behave in such a flaky, unreliable manner really isn’t the ‘Apple Way’ to which I have become accustomed. It’s all supposed to ‘Just Work’, right?

Think about it; if Microsoft were to build a bluetooth keyboard and mouse that, individually, worked just fine but, together, played very silly games with battery-life, we would be so quick to tut-tut and shake our heads. We would chuckle, too, adding ever-so-smugly (in the manner many Mac-heads are wont to do when commenting on Windows-PC-based problems) “Well, what do you expect from Microsoft?”

Just prior to the Firmware update, the now-very-happy Xorgoo complained;

More Than 100 days, more than 300 posts, and… nothing.
Apple, you have to do something.
And you should at least give us some news.
Do you think time will cure the trouble ? It won’t…

Well, Apple has done something. We now we have an update, but judging from my own initial experience and fresh comments on the Apple support pages, problems remain. Of course, one is a poor sample — my batteries may have already been too far-gone to benefit from the updated firmware. Maybe.

So now it’s over to you. Have you tried updating your firmware? Has it made any sort of difference? Share your findings with me in the comments below. And please… no comments about how we should ditch our Apple keyboards. I don’t care how shiny your Logitech is.

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Many users are also reporting issues with cracked screens and yellow tinting on the displays, with a gradient from cool to warm as you move from top to bottom down the monitor. I had the latter issue on two replacement iPhone 3GSes, too, so I can’t help but wonder if Apple’s increased ability to move product isn’t affecting quality control.

Apple’s also passing the buck in the description of what the new fix for the software-based flicker problem actually does. To wit:

The 27-inch iMac Graphics Firmware Update applies to the graphics firmware on ATI Radeon HD 4670 and 4850 graphics cards to address issues that may cause image corruption or the display to flicker.

Elsewhere, the company notes that the firmware update isn’t a cure-all:

If your screen remains black after applying the updater or if you continue to experience image corruption or display flickering after successfully completing this update, contact AppleCare or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

So not only does Cupertino seem to be blaming ATI for the issue, it’s not actually promising to necessarily fix anything with this update, either. Whether Apple goes with ATI or NVIDIA, it just can’t seem to avoid graphics card-related issues. At least this time around it didn’t take two or three years for Apple to acknowledge the problem. Still, sales of the 27-inch iMac have been halted, which probably isn’t making consumers or Apple very happy.

Let us know if you’ve tried out the update, and whether your problems have been resolved following its installation. I’ve heard from at least one or two people that they haven’t noticed any improvements. One thing’s for sure: Apple has to nip iMac-gate in the bud before further damaging its quality and reliability reputation.

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It seems inevitable that the new bonus material featured in LP and Extra releases, which includes things like photos, videos, mini-documentaries and commentary, would become accessible on Apple’s home theater device, but this is the first official confirmation that it is in fact on the way. It would seem to suggest that we’ll see the update sooner rather than later, too.

Both iTunes LP and iTunes Extras are based on the TuneKit JavaScript format, which uses HTML, CSS and other open web standards. It’s designed for a 1280×720 pixel resolution, which fits perfectly with HD TV sets and the HD output resolution of the Apple TV.

While it may not come as a surprise, a new major update for the Apple TV firmware would be the first big one since the “Take Two” 2.0 update that came at Macworld Expo in January 2008. Other things expected to arrive with it include Quicktime X and the HTTP Live Streaming protocol, both of which were recently introduced as features of OS X Snow Leopard.

It sounds like it’s shaping up to be a decent little upgrade for Apple’s main foray into the living room, but it doesn’t really sound like anything that’s going to turn heads among people who are on the fence about buying the device. Apple has recently taken some steps to increase Apple TV sales, including getting rid of the 40 GB model altogether and dropping the price of the 160 GB version. Which is great, but there’s still a lot more Apple should be doing to make the device viable.

Like the Mac mini, the Apple TV seems to be lagging behind other Apple offerings in terms of the tech behind it and its software capabilities. Many new TVs coming to market now offer built-in functionality comparable to a lot of what Apple TV brings to the table, beyond access to the iTunes Store and all of its associated content. And HD-capable nettops from companies like Asus offer a fully functional home theater PC at a comparable price, with better storage options and more.

A software update is great, but Apple needs to do more than just what’s expected to breathe some life back into its least exciting device.

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Apple has released what it calls “Performance Update 1.0,” an update to its Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard) operating systems for selected iMacs and MacBooks.

As Apple describes it — in typically brief fashion — in its Support pages, ”This update addresses intermittent hard drive related pauses reported by a small number of customers.”

Gotta love those detailed descriptions!

The update may be related to an EFI Firmware Update in June that some MacBook owners suspect was the cause of intermittent crashes and system freezes. This latest update may well put these problems to rest once and for all, except there’s something interesting about the name…that 1.0 suffix hints at the possibility of further revisions to come. A “Performance Update, Update” perhaps?

The update isn’t for everyone, however. It applies only to the following Mac models.

MacBook
MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008)
MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009)
MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009)

MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009)
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009)

MacBook Air
MacBook Air (Late 2008)
MacBook Air (Mid 2009)

Mac Mini
Mac Mini (Early 2009)

iMac
iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)
iMac (20-inch, Early 2009)
iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009)

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Back in July, users started posting on support forums and message boards about audible clicking and beeping noises being made by the faster, optional 7200RM drives. While the update seems intended to fix these issues, reading Apple’s official blurb, it would seem like resting easy might actually be a tad premature. Apple Support claims that it “reduces certain infrequent noises.” Just “reduces?” We’ll have to wait and see what effect the update actually has, but it doesn’t sound to me like it will provide a total fix.

The other update released yesterday affects a wider selection of Mac owners. It’s a Bluetooth firmware update designed to eliminate connectivity issues with Apple-branded peripherals (didn’t 10.5.8 address the same issues?), including the Mighty Mouse and the Wireless Keyboard. It also includes bug fixes — standard practice for any Apple update. Mac owners who have computers that include Bluetooth on a built-in Broadcom chipset will be prompted to install this update.

So far, I’ve installed the Bluetooth update on my Mac mini, and it does indeed appear to lessen the frequency of “Connection Lost” messages related to my Apple Wireless Keyboard. I don’t use a Mighty mouse for reasons of extreme dislike, but if you’ve got one, let us know how performance is affected by the new update, if at all. Both fixes are available now via Software Update.

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I always upgrade all of my Apple firmware as soon as the updates become available. I’ve never had a problem with any of the new firmwares, and most of the time they improve whatever product I am upgrading. I’ve never had a problem, that is, until I upgraded my Time Capsule to the 7.4.1 firmware.

I use my Time Capsule as a NAS, not a router, so it stores all of my music, movies, documents and photos…all the important stuff. Since my Time Capsule is being used as an external hard drive for all the computers on the network, it is essential to have a fast connection. If you try to stream a movie or even music from a drive that you do not have a good connection to, the media will be choppy and could eventually stop streaming all together.

Quick tip: To ensure the fastest streaming speeds, if you are using your Time Capsule as a NAS, I would recommend connecting it via Ethernet to your router instead of using the wireless. I have found that the wireless connection is not the best method when using it as NAS.

A few weeks ago I upgraded my Time Capsule to the 7.4.1 software and did not really think much of it. A few days later, my roommate told me they were having trouble streaming music. I thought that was weird, but told them to restart the Time Capsule and the router and then try it again. They restarted both items and told me they were still having trouble.

At this point, I didn’t remember that I had recently upgraded the firmware and was thinking, “This is weird, we haven’t changed anything but my roommate is claiming the network is messed up.” Later that day when I got home I investigated, and sure enough, something wasn’t right. After about an hour of poking around on the network, it finally dawned on me that the only change I’d made was upgrading the firmware, so I decided to downgrade to the previous version, and voila, my problems were gone!

To Downgrade Your Time Capsule Firmware:

1. Open Airport Utility: Applications → Utilities → Airport Utility
2. Find your device in the left-hand column and select the “Manual Setup” button
3. In the “Summary” window that pops up click on the word “Version”
4. In the pop up box that comes up next to the “Upload Version” select “7.3.2″
5. Click “OK”
6. Your Time Capsule will restart and be as good as new!

Frankly, I’m shocked that Apple would release a firmware update that would cripple the hardware and am looking forward to the next revision, which will hopefully address this issue.

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Having a laptop battery that drains quickly is one of the most annoying things I can think of. I bought a laptop over a desktop so I could use my computer anywhere and expect the battery to last enough time to get a decent amount of work done. Whenever I find something that can increase my battery life, I get excited. I recently stumbled across a firmware patch for MacBooks that does just that.

The patch was released in March 2009, but I did not find it until just now. According to Apple: “This update improves the ability of MacBook batteries to maintain a charge when the system is shut down and not used for an extended period of time. For more information about this update, please visit this web site: About Battery Update 1.4.”

The products that were affected are as follows: MacBook (13-inch Late 2006), MacBook (13-inch Mid 2007), MacBook (13-inch), MacBook (13-inch Late 2007), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2008), MacBook (13-inch, Late 2008), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009).

If you own one of the affected models and are interested in giving your MacBook’s battery life a boost, head over to the firmware update page and click the download link.

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Running a new beta on the iPhone is a little like being a kid with very loving but forgetful parents during Easter. You can bet that there are lots of eggs hidden around, but you’ll probably still be finding some long after the actual hunt is over. Since Apple doesn’t come right out and tell you what it is specifically that’s new about a new beta, features and improvements leak out slowly as developers actually use and poke around in the software.

The latest beta, dubbed 7a280f, is no exception. Lately, all kinds of neat new tricks have come to light, some of which are just nice conveniences, while others indicate a maturation of the platform ahead of the upcoming full release in June. I’ve been playing with it myself for a while, and a lot of these features escaped my notice.

One that I did run into is audio scrubbing in iTunes, which we noticed when it was introduced for podcasts. Now any iPod track can be scrubbed in the same way, by moving the track duration slider back and forth. Just like with podcast scrubbing, moving your finger up or down on the screen will adjust the scrub rate, making it faster or slower accordingly.

This is the extent of what I noticed myself, but AppleInsider has unearthed a few more new additions. First is the ability to close out all open windows in mobile Safari, something which I’ve always wanted to be able to do. Previously, you could close out all but one, but the last would remain open until you opened a new window. Now, closing the last window will automatically create a new blank one for you to start out in.

They also show a new settings screen for push notifications, which Apple is now actively encouraging developers to test out. This might just be my issue, but I have no such screen, and no such option in the settings page. The settings, if you do have them, allow you to turn on or off Badge, Sound, and Notification alerts, or turn them off altogether.

Data detectors have also been extended to other apps, like Notes. You can now enter info like emails and phone numbers, and your phone will recognize it as active data and automatically create an active link so you can use it to send a message, call someone, etc.

Finally, if you wish your battery indicator was more like the one on your MacBook, you might be in luck, because AppleInsider also seems to have uncovered graphic elements that suggest an option to view percentage or time remaining in addition to the existing battery indicator. The feature isn’t yet live, though, so we’ll see if it goes anywhere.

Can’t wait for the next build to see what else Apple has in store. If they stay true to form, I won’t have to wait long, either, since tomorrow will be two weeks since the last release, which has been the schedule to date for new updates.

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Apple released the second version of the iPhone 3.0 OS and SDK Beta today, bringing developers a number of feature improvements and stability fixes.

It’s good news for people like me who are using the beta on their primary phones — against their own good judgment and the advice of Apple and everyone else. The official build number is 7a259g, and this release marks only two weeks since the announcement and initial release of the iPhone 3.0 software.

I had a suspicion that this build’s release timing might have something to do with the recent discovery that if you’re using the brand-new Skype app with the 3.0 firmware installed, you can apparently make calls over your 3G connection instead of just on Wi-Fi. But, lo and behold, 3G voice calls still work with Skype using the new beta. In fact, a lot of the buggy issues I complained about earlier seem to have been resolved with the latest update, including the mic failure when used by third-party apps.

So far, most of the changes I’ve noticed have been improvements to overall performance, less freezing, and generally fewer bugs. Spotlight loads up a lot quicker, and returns results faster, too. Battery life seems to be better, or at least it hasn’t drained completely while streaming Internet radio over 3G. Using the first beta, I could literally watch it die none too slowly when doing this. The real test will be seeing how long the phone can go without a power cycle, since gradual OS slowdown and eventual failure was my biggest problem before. There’s also a weird “Store” menu in the iPhone’s Settings whose purpose isn’t yet clear.

If you were hesitant about using a pre-release build on your primary device, 7a259g may be reason enough to take the plunge. I’ll let you know if any major issues crop up with extended use.

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