OnLive Reveals Launch Titles, Macs and iPad to Get Console Gaming

By Cody Fink

Cloud based gaming is about to become a reality with the launch of OnLive on June 17th. This week is going to be huge for the video game industry, and OnLive hopes to bring gaming to everyone (on any platform) with their unique approach to gaming. As Macworld reports,

“For the unfamiliar, OnLive is a cloud computing based service that places the burden of processing on OnLive’s servers, not on your computer. This new technology effectively allows OnLive to use any Intel-based Mac as a high-end gaming machine.

The OnLive Game Service is available in two different forms—either through a “MicroConsole”—only about the size of a deck of playing cards—that plugs into your TV and uses your broadband Internet connection, or through your Mac or a PC connected to the Internet and configured with a small browser plug-in available for download from OnLive’s Web site. (source)”

The 1MB client available for the Mac (That’s right - 1MB) allows users to connect to OnLive to try out demos for free, with full titles ranging from $5 to $59 in price.

Cheng Uei Precision to Supplement Chinese Apple Stores with 100 of Their Own

By Cody Fink

T.C. Gou, the younger brother of Hon Hai Precision (parent company of Foxconn & Cheng Uei Precision) President Terry Gou, wants to open a chain of 100 retail stores that will sell Apple products. While Apple themselves are already expanding in the Asian country, Cheng Uei is prepared to sell Apple products as an official reseller.

The New All Aluminum Mac mini with HDMI

By Cody Fink

While all of us expected to awaken to iPhone 4 pre-orders, none of us expected a rather serious Mac mini update that’s available online and in stores this morning. Their smallest Mac now features HDMI out and an SD Card Slot - big upgrades for the tiny desktop that make it suitable for hooking up to the big screen. Also included is our usual Nvidia 320M integrated graphics, and the choice of a 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo processor, making it 2x faster than the previous model. Firewire 800 also stays on the Mac Mini, but it has lost a USB port with the feature updates - which is fine by me.

But Mac fans such as myself are most excited with Apple’s amazing visual refresh, which casts the Mac mini in an 1.4-inch-thin unibody all-aluminum enclosure over a round rubber panel that allows customer access to replacing RAM. The Apple team completely reinvented the guts by including a new green, space saving power supply which completely eliminates the need for the brick - all you need now is a single straight cable. A powerhouse that only consumes 10 Watts of energy when idle (85W when active), the Mac mini is also Apple’s most energy friendly Mac yet. Cupertino, this is a job well done.

iPad Will Get Retina Display

By Cody Fink

The iPhone is always the first to get new features; if succesful, they trickle on to other products. With the Retina Display being one of Apple’s newest features on the iPhone, we may see the beautiful display display come to the iPad. It would make sense considering that the iPad is great for reading text – Paul Miller from Engadget, however, often reminds us that the iPad’s low pixel density can be a problem for the most devout eBook Readers.

ExpanDrive v2.1.0 Brings Better Amazon S3, Support for Strongspace

By Cody Fink

A better Amazon S3 Engine. Support for ExpanDrive’s upcoming storage service, Strongspace. And a whole ton of performance upgrades. ExpanDrive has been updated to v2.1.0, and it’s pretty great.

If you haven’t heard of ExpanDrive, it’s an awesome Mac utility that allows you to mount remote and network drives with ease. If you do any sort of IT management, work often in web development, or you’re like us and you have lots of places to store files, ExpanDrive makes grabbing files incredibly convenient.

Click past the break to see how you can take advantage of a special (extremely limited) offer for Mac users.

Microsoft Paying iPhone Developers to Port Games to Windows Phone 7?

By Cody Fink

I’ve heard some shady things before, but this takes the cake. Sure we have some iPhone developers porting games to Android, but that is by choice. When you’re approached by Microsoft, it reeks of desperation. Does Microsoft not have their own developer community that’s ready to jump at the chance to develop for Windows Phone 7? Apparently not.

Tweeb: Twitter Analytics at a Glance. Review & Giveaway

By Cody Fink

Always curious as to my status of fame and glory on Twitter, Tweeb has given me a little bit of insight on just how spectacularly average I am. Just how many of my quality followers are clicking my links? What bastards are unfollowing me this week? And what of my snarky material is being re-tweeted for all to revel in? Tweeb puts a portable analytics engine right in my pocket.

iPhone Battery Pack Icon Juices your iPhone

By Cody Fink

Sheesh, can’t a guy ask for a little extra battery life around here?

Dim Safari Reader’s Background

By Cody Fink

Safari Reader is a really great addition to the latest version of Safari, and it does a pretty job of dimming the background so that you can have a focused reading experience. But sometimes, it’s just not enough – light or cluttered websites still peak through with the utmost disrespect to your eyes. Don’t let those naughty flash ads distract you from reading an Ars Technica epic: we’ve got the goods to get that helpful little background even darker.

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