Apple Mac HQ

If you are submitting an application for the Apple Design Awards, today is the deadline!  You have until 5PM PDT to submit your application to Apple.  Winners in the following categories will be chosen at WWDC in San Francisco.

• iPhone Developer Showcase (SDK based application)
• Best iPhone Web Application
• Best Mac OS X Leopard Application
• Best New Mac OS X Leopard Game
• Best Mac OS X Leopard User Experience
• Best Mac OS X Leopard Graphics and Media Application
• Best Mac OS X Leopard Student Product

Winners in each category receive a collection of free Apple gear including a 15″ MBP, 30″ ACD, ADC memberships, and more.  You can see who won the 2007 ADA here. Best of luck to all the entries!

Popularity: 3% [?]

In a somewhat surprising announcement, David Watanabe has announced that Inquisitor, his search extension for Safari, has been acquired by Yahoo. This announcement was made simultaneously with the release of Inquisitor 3.1. Among the changes in Inquisitor 3.1 is the default search engine for new users is now set to Yahoo (it was previously Google).

Details on the acquisition are a little scarce. No word on the acquisition price or other details. What is known is that Watanabe will not join Yahoo, but will remain the lead developer of Inquisitor.

So what’s in this for Yahoo? I suspect the acquisition is just an attempt to buy search queries. The search box in Safari is powered by Google. If you install Inquisitor, the search box now defaults to Yahoo. Yahoo is paying for your searches.

Disclosure: I own a small number of Yahoo shares.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Here’s a tip for anyone using a wireless Mighty Mouse. If you use a Mighty Mouse (MM), I’m sure you’ve had it disconnect from your Mac while working. Previously, the only way I could get the connection restored was to restart my Mac. After some poking around I found a way to reconnect the MM without restarting. This tip works better with a notebook, but will work with a desktop provided you have a USB mouse (or know the keyboard shortcuts). Do the following if the mouse has been disconnected:

1) Click the bluetooth icon in the menubar
2) Choose Set Up Bluetooth Device from the menu
3) Using the Bluetooth Setup Assistant, go through the process of setting up your mouse just as you did the very first time you setup the Mighty Mouse. If the Setup Assistant doesn’t see the MM during the scanning portion, slide the sensor cover closed and then reopen it. At that point the Setup Assistant should find the mouse.
4) Finish up the setup process and your MM should start to work again!

I’ve read numerous forum posts about Mighty Mouses disconnecting while in use. I haven’t been able to find out why it happens, but at least you can get it working again without rebooting.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Our northern brothers are finally getting the iPhone. According to a statement released by Rogers Communications Inc. on Tuesday, it has reached an agreement to bring the iPhone to Canada. “We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year,” Rogers CEO Ted Rogers said via the statement. “We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.”

The iPhone carrier announcement is only one half of the anticipated release of the iPhone in Canada. Perhaps the most anticipated announcement will come when Rogers releases their rate plans. Currently, Rogers charges an arm and a leg for data plans (25 MB for $60 CDN). How will Rogers alter their data charges for the iPhone?

[Via MacRumors]

Popularity: 10% [?]

Introduction
Launched in 2007, Amazon MP3 marked the first large assault on iTunes. While it’s not the first digital music download service back by a large corporation (who knew Wal-Mart had a music download service?), this product is unique. Not only was this new effort backed by a large corporation, but it is a corporation with a long respected internet history.

Selection
The selection of music on Amazon MP3 is enormous. While the selection is not quite as large as iTunes, it has most of the same songs/albums as iTunes. The music diversity on Amazon MP3 is also quite good. If you like Top 40 type music, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll find what you’re looking for. If your taste varies from popular music, Amazon MP3 can also wet your music appetite. I had a very hard time not finding the music I was looking for. In fact, of the ten or so artists I looked for, only the most obscure one wasn’t listed. Bottom line, unless you are a complete underground/unsigned indie junkie you’ll find something you like. Even if you are, it can’t hurt to see if Amazon MP3 carries it. Amazon is constantly adding labels to their MP3 offerings.

Price
Most single tracks cost between $.89 and $.99 cents each. Based on my browsing, albums cost between $5.99 and $9.99 each. Most single discs run between $8.99 - $9.99 however. Double discs cost more than a single disc. I’ve seen some double discs for $12.99 and $16.99. Price will likely vary by artist, label, etc.

Music Format
Amazon MP3 offers DRM free 256 kbps mp3 files. Good quality sound and DRM free; about as good as you can get from a download music service.

Experience
As with all the iTunes alternatives I’m reviewing for this article series, Amazon MP3 is a web application. The website features a similar design to the Amazon Store. Searching for a song or album is as easy as using Google and typing into a search box. Once you have found what you want, click buy.

With the help of the Amazon MP3 Downloader, the experience using Amazon MP3 is quite seamless. If you are purchasing individual songs, the use of the Amazon MP3 Downloader is optional. If you are purchasing entire albums, the use of the Amazon MP3 Downloader is mandatory. I do however recommend using it for all your purchases since it does make life easier.

After buying a song or album on Amazon MP3, you’ll download a .amz file. When you have the Amazon MP3 Downloader installed, opening the file will launch the Downloader and you’ll see the songs being downloaded to your computer. Once the download is finished, the Downloader will automatically add the song to iTunes. The album art should also be included!

Overall
Amazon MP3 is by far the best competitor to iTunes. The experience of finding and downloading music is very easy. The quality and selection of music is great, as is the price. If you’re looking to spend your music dollars somewhere other than iTunes, Amazon MP3 will likely be your best choice.

This is part 1 of 3 of the Guide to iTunes Alternatives series.

Popularity: 10% [?]

In a move that will have conspiracy theorist busy for days, Apple has acquired a small microprocessor company named PA Semi according to Forbes. Details of the purchase were not announced, but sources have said the deal was worth $278 million cash. As usual, Apple has said little about the deal.

PA Semi was founded in 2003 by Dan Dobberpuhl, who was the lead designer for the Alpha and StrongARM microprocessors developed by Digital Equipment in the 1990s. What’s truly interesting about this deal is that PA Semi develops processors based on the Power Architecture. This is the same architecture that previously powered Apple computers prior to the transition to Intel processors in 2006.

It’s highly unlikely that Apple would transition any existing Mac back to the Power Architecture. So what exactly would Apple need a Power based processor for? A new mobile device? More powerful iPods? A new processor for the iPhone? Obviously only Apple knows exactly why they purchased PA Semi. But what is fairly clear is that they are developing some type of device that will contain a Power based processor. Whether or not a new device is being born or an existing one changed, the Power architecture is alive again at Apple.

[Via Macworld]

Popularity: 13% [?]

I usually browse through the Free on iTunes (iTunes link) section on a weekly basis. After all, it is free music/tv. Often I don’t download anything at all, but occasionally something actually sounds good. This week, that’s definitely the case.

I’ve written here a few times that I’m a big singer-songwriter fan. Up for free this week in that category is the song Madly (iTunes link), by Tristan Prettyman. I had previously heard Tristan while browsing last.fm. It’s a pretty catchy song with good vocals and piano work. If you’re into the singer-songwriter stuff, give it a shot. After all, it won’t cost you a thing.

If you like what you heard, her new CD (iTunes link) is currently available on iTunes for less than $6 USD. Her new CD, titled Hello, is even in iTunes Plus format. For two days worth of Starbucks, the CD is a bargain.

Popularity: 18% [?]