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  • Ed
    In time for its release this month, Apple seeded the Golden Master build of Mac OS X Lion to developers.
     
    Although it's still unclear if a physical upgrade or install disc will ever be available in the future, Mac OS X Lion is due to hit the Mac App Store this month and will only be available as a digital download upgrade, at just $29.
     
    It's also likely that some Macs may get a refresh in line with the release of Mac OS X Lion and come with the latest OS pre-installed. The MacBook Air has been in short supply for sometime, and reports are also rife that the entry-level polycarbonate MacBook is also at end-of-life and due for a refresh.
  • Ed
    In the wake of Mac OS X Lion being announced, developers Nawcom and Meklort have announced Project v0ltr0n, which aims to be "a nice and easy retail solution for installing [Mac OS X Lion] onto PCs".
     
    Here's an excerpt of some of the features that they're aiming to provide through v0ltr0n:


    The ability to install OS X 10.7 Retail DVDs OS X 10.7 retail install images onto hard disks with non-GUID partitions without issues.
    Integrated kext patching within the bootloader for kexts which need to be patched either through their Info.plist or binary. (based on a number of netbookinstaller‘s features)
    Integrated kernel patching within the bootloader for all unsupported CPUs. As of now, just basic support for AMDs have been planned, but this will make things easier for unsupported Intel CPU people as well.
    Retail DVD sub-package injection and autoselection, just like ModCD/ModUSB, so your hardware support gets installed with the OS.
    SleepEnabler.kext will not need to be updated anymore. PM_DISPATCH_VERSION within the kernel you are booting will be autodetected. For those who have dealt with the annoyance of updating SleepEnabler every kernel change, you will understand how this makes life easier.
    HDA codec detection in the bootloader.
    If you're interested in helping out on this project, head on over to Nawcom's blog post.
  • Ed
    Blogger and apparent Newton-lover "Egg Freckles" has posted on their blog the steps to create a bootable disc for Mac OS X Lion (when it becomes available) - below is a snippet from the blog post:

    Purchase and download Lion from the Mac App Store on any Lion compatible Mac running Snow Leopard.
    Right click on “Mac OS X Lion” installer and choose the option to “Show Package Contents.”
    Inside the Contents folder that appears you will find a SharedSupport folder and inside the SharedSupport folder you will find the “InstallESD.dmg.” This is the Lion boot disc image we have all been waiting for.
    Copy “InstallESD.dmg” to another folder like the Desktop.
    Launch Disk Utility and click the burn button.
    Select the copied “InstallESD.dmg” as the image to burn, insert a standard sized 4.7 GB DVD, and wait for your new Lion Boot Disc to come out toasty hot.
  • Ed
    Check out the fascinating video below of Steve Jobs presenting plans for a brand new Apple campus to the Cupertino City Council, just the day after his keynote speech on Monday.
     
    The new campus takes the form of a huge circle with a central courtyard at the middle, surrounded by a leafy landscape where they aim to turn the existing asphalt car parks into trees (car parking will be underground).
     
    It's mildly amusing and almost cringeworthy to see how the council members interact with Steve, particularly embarrassing is the woman who tries to haggle for "free Wi-Fi". Wow.
     

  • Ed
    Steve Jobs personally announced the debut of iCloud, Apple's new cloud service to replace MobileMe. iCloud lets Mac and iOS users store their content in the cloud, ensuring that data is sync'd Over-The-Air in realtime.
     
    Whilst MobileMe used to have an annual license fee, iCloud will be free when it's launched this fall, and gives users 5GB of storage. Users can expect to have their contacts, calendar and @me.com mail sync'd across all enabled devices. Because iCloud is built right into the apps, there's no separate apps to download, you need only upgrade to iOS 5 which is compatible with all devices that iOS 4 is compatible with (iPod Touch 3rd generation or newer, iPhone 3GS or newer, all iPads).
     
    Furthermore, the new iTunes Match service will let users download music that they may have downloaded or ripped from elsewhere, giving them access to potentially higher quality 256kbps AAC tracks across all their iCloud-enabled devices. This isn't quite the Spotify killer that it potentially could have been, but it's a step in its direction.
     
    For more details check out Apple's iCloud pages.
  • Ed
    Apple has unveiled the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 5. The new OS is set to be released in the "fall" of this year, no doubt inline with the yet-to-be-announced, fifth-generation of the iPhone. This year marks the first WWDC since 2008 that a new iPhone was not announced.
     
    iOS 5 packs some attractive new features, one of the most notable and requested being an all-new notifications system. Simply swiping down from the top of the screen reveals a very Andriod-like interface where you can see notifications on an app-by-app basis, and feature widgets towards the top such as weather or a stock ticker.
     

     
    Other major new features include iMessage which enables free data messaging over 3G and Wi-Fi between iOS devices - a bit like WhatsApp and KIK, but this time built-in to the existing "Messages" app, and presumably not cross-compatible to Android or BlackBerry users, so don't go deleting your existing data messaging apps just yet! Features are similar to the aforementioned third party apps, including group messaging, seeing when the other person's typing, send photos & videos, etc.
     
    Camera gets some tweaking, now with the ability to take a picture using the volume '+' button: a nice touch which was seen previously on the third party Camera+ app from Taptaptap which wasn't allowed on the App store when they originally introduced this feature. Looks like APple not only back-tracked on that decision but also nicked it for themselves!
     
    Twitter gets its claws into iOS 5 with system-level integration, giving you the ability to tweet content from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, etc. and deep integration with the address book so you can simply type a friends name without having to remember their Twitter username.
     
    Another major benefit from iOS 5 is to finally be able to sync over Wi-Fi: something some users have been so desperate for they've turned to jailbreaking their iPhones to enjoy this functionality before Apple's official support. Furthermore, Apple are now making iOS devices PC-free, meaning that you won't be prompted to set an iOS device up with a PC or Mac in the future, as they can run independently should you wish.
     
    For the full-list of features and screenshots, head on over to Apple's iOS 5 page for more details.
  • Ed
    Steve Jobs and co. have announced Mac OS X Lion, version 10.7 of Apple's desktop operating system, which is due to be released next month.
     
    Whilst Mac OS X used to $129 and purchased as a disc, Mac OS X Lion will only be available as a digital download, and for the much cheaper price of just $29.99.
     
    Mac OS X Lion features an updated interface with more emphasis and support for multi-touch gestures, given that Apple's line of portables (Macbooks, Macbook Pro's and Macbook Airs) are outselling their desktop counterparts 3:1. There are also no scrollbars present in windows when using gestures, bringing the OS more inline with it's mobile sibling, iOS.
     
    Exposé and Spaces are now unified in the all-new Mission Control which gives users a new way to manage their windows and space, which is especially appropriate given that the new OS has support for full-screen applications.
     
    Resume and Auto-save are other new features that may just tip many to upgrade from 10.6, which allow users to pick up their applications right from where they were the last time they opened them, including window size and position, and even highlighted text. Auto-save is self-explanatory, but great to see this as a system-level feature.
     
    The popular Mail app sees a major overhaul, with an iPad style widescreen layout with message down the left-hand side and the message viewer as a square area to the right. Searching has been vastly improved for more refined and efficient searching.
     
    Mac OS X Lion will be released in July as a 4GB, $29.99 download via the Mac App Store.

  • Ed
    The new iCloud logo has been spotted by AppleInsider thanks to a sneaky photo taken at the Moscone Center where Apple's annual WWDC event is due to take place next week.
     
    It's widely anticipated that iCloud will supersede Apple's current cloud offering, MobileMe, at a fee of just $25 per year.
     
    Note that the banner in the photo also shows logos for Apple's Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, and also iOS 5 - although unlike previous years, it is expected that there will be no new iPhone announcement until later in the year.
  • Ed
    Recent sources are reporting that Apple's music service is close to being launched, possibly as soon as June/July, with three of the four major record labels signed up, and a deal almost closed with Universal Music Group.
     
    The cloud service is expected to be similar to Spotify, a cloud-based music service from Sweden which has yet to be launched in the USA, inwhich a huge music database is hosted on the web and is instantly streamed from an Internet-enabled device, namely a computer or smartphone.
     
    Apple's service is rumored to have an additional feature in that existing music libraries and playlist in a user's iTunes account will be mirrored in Apple's iCloud and can be retrieved from any device without sync'ing. The iCloud service is also alleged to detect low quality song files on a user's local library and replace it in the cloud with a higher quality version.
     
    A recent patent application discovered by AppleInsider also indicates that to save valuable space on iPhones and iPads, songs can be partially sync'd so that just the beginning of the song is stored and played while the iCloud service kicks in and downloads the rest to the device.
  • Ed
    The guys over at TUAW, who don't normally play the rumormill game, claim they have reliable sources indicating that Mac OS X 10.7 (aka Lion) has been released for internal testing within Apple.
     
    This means we may see Mac OS X Lion announced and made available as early as the WWDC conference which runs from the 6th-10th of June.
     
    We look forward to getting our hands on the real thing and seeing how well the final version plays ball with non-Apple hardware. If you haven't already, check out our dedicated OSx86 Installation Mac OS X Lion and Post-Installation Mac OS X Lion forums.
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