Hot News
iMac Top Choice Among All-in-Ones
With its “souped-up” CPU and graphics performance, beautiful design, and best-in-class display, the 27-inch iMac earns a 9/10 rating and an Editors’ Choice award from Computer Shopper. Noting iMac’s strong productivity performance and excellent gaming capabilities, reviewer Jonathan Rougeout concludes: “In almost every way, this top-of-the-line model beats every other all-in-one on the market.”
iWork Now Available For iPhone and iPod touch Users
Apple today announced that its groundbreaking iWork productivity apps — Keynote, Pages, and Numbers — are now available for iPhone and iPod touch, as well as iPad. Created for the Mac and then completely redesigned for iOS and the Multi-Touch interface, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers allow you to create and share stunning presentations, beautifully formatted documents, and powerful spreadsheets on the go. iWork apps are available on the App Store for $9.99 each to new users and as a free update for existing iWork for iPad customers.
Apple Announces New iMac
Apple today updated its signature all-in-one iMac with quad-core processors, powerful new graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, and a new FaceTime HD camera. Starting at $1199, the new iMac is up to 70 percent faster and offers up to three times faster graphics performance than the previous generation.
GarageBand at Guitar Center
Beginning May 7, you can visit any Guitar Center location and learn how to record and mix tracks using Mac and GarageBand. Guitar Center will present free “Recording Made Easy” workshops each Saturday from 10-11 a.m. in all of its 216 stores. Four different workshop sessions make it simple for even novice musicians to go from creating basic tracks to recording a finished song in GarageBand.
A Showpiece E-Book for iPad
Blogging in The New York Times, technology columnist David Pogue calls Our Choice — Al Gore’s new e-book app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch — “one of the most elegant, fluid, immersive apps you’ve ever seen.” Pogue notes that the Our Choice app updates Gore’s 2009 best-selling book about solving Earth’s climate crisis and that “the real magic” is in the visual elements, which include more than 400 pages of interactive photos, graphics, and video. Pogue concludes: “For once, here’s an e-book that really does redefine the net effect of an e-book.”
iMac Blows Away the Competition
For its excellent performance, “gorgeous” design, and superior display, the new 21.5-inch iMac earns an editors’ rating of 8.9/10 from Computer Shopper, which makes it their overall top pick for an all-in-one desktop computer. Reporting that iMac blew most of the competition “straight off the test bench,” Computer Shopper recommends iMac to anyone focused on productivity and performance. They add: “With serious speed improvements and the promising new Thunderbolt port, the 2011 iMac keeps an iron grip on its position as today’s leading all-in-one PC.”
Watching TV on an iPad
At AllThingsD, tech columnist Walt Mossberg compiles a comprehensive list of apps for watching network and cable TV shows on iPad, including iTunes, Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO, MLB.com At Bat, ABC Player, XFINITY TV, and WatchESPN. Mossberg notes that iPad’s many viewing app options — along with its thin and light design, immersive interface, large screen, and strong battery performance — make it “by far the best tablet for TV watching now.”
New iMac Best in Class
CNET makes the new 27-inch iMac an Editors’ Choice (4/5 stars), writing that it “offers the best performance among current all-in-ones, along with the largest display, the best design, and exciting potential from its Thunderbolt ports.” Citing iMac’s competitive performance and price, CNET concludes that “for digital media professionals, or others in need of a fast, serious-minded all-in-one with a large display, we can make no other recommendation.”
iPad 2 Stars in Vacation Videos
USA Today’s Jefferson Graham describes how he was able to capture and edit on-the-go travel videos in New Zealand using iPad 2 and the iMovie app, then instantly demo his movies on the “nearly 10-inch sexy screen.” Writes Graham: “Most people never get around to editing their videos. So having easy-to-obtain software on a device that lets you edit anywhere, like the iPad, will, hopefully, result in more polished videos.”
MacBook Pro Is Editors’ Choice
Computer Shopper gives the new 13-inch MacBook Pro a score of 9.3/10 and makes it their Editors’ Choice. Reviewer Jonathan Rougeot writes that MacBook Pro “continued to trounce its competition in our battery test” and notes that the processor performance “far exceeded expectations.” He concludes: “…once again, Apple takes a notebook that we already loved and makes it even better.”
“Mind-Blowingly” Fast MacBook Pro
PC Magazine reviewer Cisco Cheng calls the new 15-inch MacBook Pro “the fastest, most technologically advanced laptop to grace our Lab’s benches.” Highlighting standout features like its “mind-blowingly fast” performance, improved battery life, ultrafast Thunderbolt input/output connection, and new FaceTime HD camera, Cheng calls MacBook Pro a “technological tour de force.”
New 13-inch MacBook Pro Hard to Beat
CNET reviewer Scott Stein writes that “the new 13-inch MacBook Pro’s significant CPU updates and fantastic battery life make it one of the top laptops we’ve reviewed.” Stein likes the device’s “excellent” ergonomics, keyboard, and large Multi-Touch trackpad, as well as its seamless metal body, which “compared with other flexy laptops…feels like modern art.” He adds: “…for the price and the size, it’s hard to beat what the 13-inch MacBook Pro offers.”
Serious Speed Boost for MacBook Pro
Laptop Magazine calls the new MacBook Pro the “most well-rounded 13-inch notebook,” praising its “serious speed boost.” Noting the device’s superb battery life, sturdy luxurious design, excellent keyboard, responsive Multi-Touch trackpad, and robust software package, the reviewer suggests that “if you have a need for speed and epic endurance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro will definitely satisfy.”
MacBook Pro an All-Around Powerhouse
CNET makes the 15-inch MacBook Pro an Editor’s Choice, awarding it 4/5 stars (Excellent). Reviewer Dan Ackerman writes that “though these new models may look the same as the ones they replace, the changes under the hood are some of the most far-reaching in the history of the MacBook Pro brand.” Citing “powerful updates to the CPU and GPU,” Ackerman calls the MacBook Pro an “all-around powerhouse” and “the fastest laptop we’ve tested.”
Staying in Touch With Technology
In a story about how older adults can keep up with technology, The New York Times’ Sam Grobart recommends iPad, which “remains the best choice” among tablets because it’s “easy to use, and its wealth of apps make it the perfect digital companion.” Grobart also recommends productivity apps like Evernote, “the world’s greatest file cabinet,” for helping people remain organized in retirement.