Cody Fink

1547 posts on MacStories since January 2010

Former MacStories contributor.

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Amazon Kindle App Complies With Apple’s Rules: Drops Kindle Store Button

The Amazon Kindle app has been updated in the App Store, and subsequently has removed the button linking to their Kindle Store in complying with Apple’s rules for termination (with the ultimate deadline being set at June 30th). Apps offering subscriptions must use in-app-purchasing, and all links to external stores must be removed. The Wall Street Journal and Kobo are also among some of the companies complying at the last minute with the rules pending the upcoming deadline.

Amazon didn’t just update their Kindle app to comply with Apple’s terms of service, however, adding the capability to deliver newspaper and magazine subscriptions to your iPad or iPhone, and download recent editions from the Archived Items section of their app. Amazon is seemingly skirting around subscriptions by making customers push new issues to their devices via the Kindle Store on the web, but automatic delivery makes us wonder whether this infringes on IAP rules.

A second addition brings the ability to highlight text and share quotes or passages with friends on Facebook or Twitter. I’ve never been so enamored to share text of a book I’m reading with my compatriots on either social network, but you bookworms have no more excuses for not showing up to your weekly book club discussion.

Apple to open Apple Store in Grand Central Terminal

The last time we heard evidence of a Grand Central Apple Store was back in May, when the Wall Street Journal reported that the Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) was contacted by Apple who was interested in retail space. Today, according to the New York Post, Apple will open a 23,000 square-foot store in the terminal’s north and northeast balconies. Affected is the Metrazeur restaurant, bought out in the apparent deal. Apple’s rent will initially cost $800,000 for the retail space during a ten-year lease.

It should be noted that the deal isn’t finalized yet: the MTA still has to ask their financial committee to approve the deal on Monday before receiving a final okay from the board of directors on Wednesday. With the deal likely to rake in $5 million in profits (at minimum), and with the renter being Apple, the MTA is undoubtedly going to vote “yes”. I don’t think there’s any question there.

[via NY Post]

Apple to Bid on Hulu Online Television Service?

After being put up for sale by owners Walt Disney, News Corp, and NBC Universal, Apple may be considering to bid on the online television service according to ‘people familiar with the matter’. It’s your typical response to rumors small and large, but let’s look at what’s on the table. Apple has stockpiled storage in the past (presumably for storing and serving video), and today’s speculation also coincides with previous rumors that Apple is working on their own online streaming video service.

Hulu has already been in talks with AT&T, Yahoo, and Apple competitor Google. Apple has $76 billion in cash, a data center to spare, and a competitor I’m sure they’d love to prevent from acquiring Hulu’s properties. Hulu has 33,000 episodes available for Hulu Plus subscribers, mobile applications, and ties with gaming consoles and other devices in the consumer market.

Update: In an updated version of the story, Yahoo is purported to be willing to pay up to $2 billion for four/five years of content. Microsoft dropped out of the bidding for the deal.

[Bloomberg[1][2] via @emilychangtv]

MacBook Air 13” Mid 2011 Teardown→

MacBook Air 13” Mid 2011 Teardown

Although today is an exciting day for consumers, it is a sad day for consumer repair. Apple decided that the “svelte and sexy” MacBook Air would replace the “simple and serviceable” white plastic MacBook (for consumers at least– the white plastic MacBook is still available for educational use). While this means that your book-bags will be significantly lighter, it will also mean that you won’t be upgrading or servicing your computer anytime soon.

As iFixit tears down the MacBook Air this afternoon, they’re equally sad to see the plastic MacBook leave Apple’s consumer lineup (it will still serve a purpose in the education sector for students around the world). I still have my old black MacBook, and I don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. Thunderbolt machines are still young, Lion is new, and there’s still some shifts to be made in Apple’s product line before I’m willing to commit to a new machine. (I’m waiting for the optical drives to be removed from the MacBook Pros, which would likely happen with a redesign). That said, I’ve been keeping my MacBook alive thanks to the great folks at OWC. Already, they’re looking to support the new 2011 MacBook Airs. OWC Grant writes:

If I’m right about this, and the clues certainly make it appear so, then once again, OWC offers an upgrade path that offers up to four times more capacity (480GB) than the size of the typical choice stock drive (128GB) from the factory in the new machines.

If I’m wrong…and the flash storage is truly soldered in, there are two possible options. One, get your hands on a Refurbished 2010 model instead and drop an OWC Aura Pro Express in there for the capacity you truly need and want. Two, we always could (note that “could” term there!) offer a Turnkey Program where you would send your 2011 MBA to us and we’d send it back with higher capacity and likely faster flash storage.

According to iFixit’s update this afternoon, there should be no need for the Turnkey Program. Apple’s latest MacBook Air should accept the OWC Aura Pro Express so you may add more storage if needed to the lightweight machines.

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The First Five Things I Do When I Set Up Lion

Whether I’m installing OS X for myself or for another person, there’s always several things I do first before anything else. The steps I take aren’t too different in Lion, and whether you’re getting a new Mac, finding ways to install Lion fresh, or looking to see if you’ve missed anything, let’s take a quick five minute tour of the OS’s settings.

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Lion Internet Recovery: In Case of Emergency

Lion doesn’t come on optical disc. Your Mac’s hard disk drive — fragile and vulnerable in your MacBook’s chassis — is a ticking time bomb. Components fail, and hard drives are more often than not the first things to go. Rigorous backups can archive your data offsite, but what happens when the MacBook you have isn’t serviceable? If you have the ability to replace the hard drive, how will you reinstall Lion if an Internet Connection and Snow Leopard is required to re-download Lion from the Mac App Store? These have been burning questions pertaining to routine maintenance and repair, and Apple’s answer is Lion Internet Recovery.

Quite simply, it’s ‘Internet Recovery’ that’s going to be built into new machines starting with today’s MacBook Air and Mac Mini. If the hard drive dies or you have to replace your HDD/SSD, your Mac can connect to the Internet and download the OS in case of a failure where a Wi-Fi connection is present. On Wi-Fi, WEP and WPA-Enterprise secured networks aren’t supported: WPA or WP2 are the only network protocols Lion Internet Recovery will work with. I point this out since I know many of you are irresponsibly still on WEP (at least all of my neighbors are). A Recovery HD image is downloaded, and your hard drive and memory are quickly scanned for hardware issues while your Mac does its thing.

(If Recovery HD can’t be downloaded, Apple does provide a support document that details how you can download the tools onto an external drive.)

For a generic reinstall of Lion, holding Command-R at boot will launch Recovery HD, which contains a set of basic utilities (such as Disk Utility) that can be used to troubleshoot your Mac and its hardware. A Safari browser is also provided in case you need to visit Apple’s support pages for various documentation. The Recovery HD utilities will allow you to reinstall Lion, but an active ethernet or Wi-Fi connection is required. Recovery HD should work with your home network regardless of the wireless security protocol set.

As an absolute last resort, Apple recommends that you call AppleCare so they can take care of you, briefly mentioning that they’ll “send you everything you need to to help restore your Mac.”

Bought a Mac Recently? Don’t Forget You can Download Lion for Free!

If you’ve purchased a Mac between June 6th and July 20th, or you’re buying a new Mac that doesn’t come with Lion preinstalled as of today (July 21st), you can redeem a free copy of Lion from the Apple Online Store! Downloads are good for both Lion and Lion Server on qualifying new or refurbished machines. You’ll need to enter receipt information such as date of purchase, place of purchase, and from your Mac the serial number in order to get the redemption. Alternatively, Apple gives you the opportunity to scan a proof of purchase. Most likely the Up -To-Date Program will pertain to Mac users who’ve purchased their machines in the past weeks — I bet many college students would be happy that their $100 credit will continue to go towards apps, and not an OS upgrade.

You can find all the details about the program on Apple’s Up-To-Date landing page.

Lion Launch Notes: What You Might Have Missed

It’s not just your normal Wednesday morning folks. Nope — coinciding with the launch of Lion that was only confirmed yesterday during Apple’s Q3 conference call, Apple has released a handful of new products including updated MacBook Airs, updated Mac Minis, and new Apple Thunderbolt Displays (a step up from the Apple Cinema Displays). In the chaos of four press releases and an updating Apple Store, there’s lots of new items to note alongside our major morning launches, so let’s run through the list!

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Introducing the New Apple Thunderbolt Display

Apple’s updated their 27-inch Cinema Display this morning with a new name and a brand new Thunderbolt port and cable that’s ready for your new MacBook Air or Mac Mini, coinciding with the release of Lion.

The 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display gets the obvious updates this morning: you can expect a a Thunderbolt and MagSafe connections (a two pronged cable instead of three) for upstream data, and a Thunderbolt port out back for connecting a second Cinema Display for use with 15-inch or 17-inch iMacs. With three USB ports, a Firewire 800 port, and Gigabit Ethernet built in, your existing peripherals and landline connection can be connected to the Cinema Display — the Thunderbolt cable handles data transfer to your Mac up to 10 Gbps.

You can check out the full press release after the break.
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