Latest Posts in Macworld Podcast

The holidays & Mac gaming

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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While the decorations put up by retailers might suggest otherwise, next week marks the official beginning of the holiday shopping season. After a surfeit of turkey and starches, the American shopper stumbles forth in the next day’s dewy hours to stalk the Black Friday bargains. In a year where there’s likely to be far less spending and far more bargain hunting, we turn our attention to what the holidays mean for Apple.

We do so in our first segment when Macworld.com executive Philip Michaels speaks with editorial director Jason Snell, senior news editor Jonathan Seff, and senior reviews editor Roman Loyola about Apple’s plans—or lack thereof—for the holiday season.

Philip Michaels then makes a return visit to discuss the state of Mac gaming with senior editor Peter Cohen.

Download Episode #136

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To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

Twitter and TV

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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Now that the excitement of the elections is over, we can get back to what’s really important—technology. And the specific technology we address today is brought to you by the letter T, as in Twitter and Television.

Making this episode of the Macworld Podcast so twitterific is my interview with the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ technology writer, Julio Ojeda-Zapata. Julio is set to release his book Twitter Means Business in the next few weeks and now seems as good a time as any to get down to business in regard to what purposes Twitter serves other than announcing to the world that baked beans and broccoli are on tonight’s dinner menu.

I then gather around the virtual triangle table for a three-way discussion with Macworld editorial director Jason Snell and senior news editor Jonathan Seff about how recent technological developments are changing the way we obtain and watch television programs and movies.

And finally, because it’s so darned topical, I can’t help but open the podcast with a brief non-partisan monologue on how the Web has changed the face of politics.

New MacBooks and Bento 2

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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In our last, special edition of the Macworld Podcast, we discussed our immediate reaction to Apple’s just-announced laptops. A week later we’ve gotten our hands on several MacBooks and MacBook Pros and have the performance data to prove it. In this episode, Macworld.com executive editor Philip Michaels joins lab director Jim Galbraith to discuss just how these new Apple laptops measure up.

I then engage FileMaker’s vice president of marketing and services Ryan Rosenberg in conversation about Bento 2, the recently released, easy-does-it database application. Ryan details what’s new in Bento 2 as well as explains the product’s lack of an incremental upgrade price.

And in my News & Commentary monologue I offer my two-bits on the lack of FireWire on the new MacBooks and the untimely death of the matte display.

Download Episode #134

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To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Got any feedback on this podcast? Send me an e-mail; audio comments in the form of an AAC or MP3 file are particularly welcome. You can also leave us a message at 415/520-9761 if you’d like to have your comments included in a future podcast.

Show Notes

Everyone has opinions about the loss of FireWire and matte screens. Our own Peter Cohen believes that most will learn to carry on without FireWire. And, like me, Rob Griffiths maintains that matte matters.

We’ve benchmarked the living heck out of the new MacBook and MacBook Pro. Check out our MacBook benchmarks, our MacBook gaming benchmarks and our MacBook Pro benchmarks. Also take a look at Jason Snell’s first look at the MacBook and MacBook Pro And Roman Loyola takes you on a video tour of the new MacBooks’ trackpad and multi-touch gestures.

We’ve also posted a review of the new MacBook models.

As for Bento 2, you can read William Porter’s review of the latest version of the personal database app.

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Audible.com.

New laptops from Apple

Posted by Jason Snell on

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If you love laptops, Tuesday’s event at the Apple campus was custom-made for you. Apple overhauled its entire laptop line, ushering in new designs for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro models, as well as faster graphics and more storage for the MacBook Air. The company even unveiled a Cinema Display built specifically for laptop users.

It’s a lot of mobile news to stay on top of, but in this special edition of the Macworld Podcast, we’ve assembled the crew to do it. I’m joined by senior news editor Jonathan Seff and senior editor Dan Frakes, both of whom attended Tuesday’s live event. Each of us offers our perspective on what you need to know about the latest laptop announcements.

Download Episode #133

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To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Got any feedback on this podcast? Send regular host Christopher Breen an e-mail; audio comments in the form of an AAC or MP3 file are particularly welcome. You can also leave us a message at 415/520-9761 if you’d like to have your comments included in a future podcast.

Show Notes

Be sure to check out all our news stories on the changes to the MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air. We’ve also got a report on the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. And, for a bigger picture of Apple’s laptop business, here’s a round-up of Apple COO Tim Cook’s state of the Mac presentation from Tuesday’s event.

We’ll have ongoing coverage, of course, at Macworld.com. You’ll find it at our Laptop Topic Center page. And you can watch a video of Tuesday’s event courtesy of Apple.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Chris Breen misspoke in the podcast intro, and this is actually Macworld Podcast #133.

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by MYOB Small Business Management Software.

Kid-safe Mac, App Store improvements

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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This episode of the Macworld Podcast is all about control—both taking and letting go. In our first interview, my daughter Addie talks with me about Leopard’s Parental Controls feature—a feature for locking down parts of the Mac to help keep both your computer and child safe.

In our second interview, Macworld.com executive editor Philip Michaels, leads a discussion with editorial director Jason Snell and associate editor Dan Moren about Apple’s recent moves to give up some of its control of information regarding the iPhone non-disclosure agreement (NDA), a move that has made countless developers happy because they can now share their programming techniques with one another. And happy developers could mean happy iPhone users, as Jason and Dan explain in the podcast.

Download Episode #132

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Show Notes

Breen the Elder and Younger chose this moment to discuss Leopard’s Parental Controls because my feature story, The Kid-Safe Mac, appears in the November 2008 issue of Macworld. Elements of that story are sure to appear on Macworld.com in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy these reviews of the content-filtering programs KidsGoGoGo and ContentBarrier X4.

The iPhone discussion centers around last week’s announcement by Apple that it was dropping its NDA for iPhone developers. Given the complaints about the restrictive NDA lodged by Messrs. Moren and Snell, we are pleased by the lifting of the NDA.

Also discussed during the iPhone roundtable is the new requirement that you have to buy an application before you can post a review in the App Store. (Our colleague Peter Cohen thinks Apple should wipe out all the App Store reviews written before this rule change.) And there is the briefest of discussions on Apple missing its self-imposed deadline to deliver a push notification system for the iPhone and what that means to you. (Spoiler alert: Not very much.)

Chirping crickets heard during my responses in the Kid-Safe Mac interview courtesy of a very sensitive microphone, open window, and late-night recording.

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Audible.com.

CS4 and the App Store

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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In a financial world where your house is worth half of what you paid for it, your 401K has lost 65 percent of its value, and the nation’s Treasury Secretary is hoping to make off with your kid’s piggy bank, what’s another $2,499? If you’re a creative designer, that nearly-$2,500 could be one of the year’s smarter investments if you require the latest and greatest Adobe applications.

I write, of course, of the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection—a collection of design tools that includes InDesign, Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional, Fireworks, Contribute, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Soundbooth, OnLocation and Encore.

Macworld.com executive editor Philip Michaels and senior editor Jackie Dove witnessed Adobe’s announcement of CS4, interviewed some of Adobe’s CS4 key players, and brought back the audio evidence of their work to share with you.

Later in the show, Rogue Amoeba’s Paul Kafasis and I discuss Apple’s App Store—specifically issues where Apple has rejected some perfectly useful apps, citing “duplication” of existing functionality. Kafasis rejects these rejections, discusses why seemingly capricious rejections may not make for a harmonious business relationship, and suggests alternatives for iPhone application distribution.

Apple's music event

Posted by Macworld Staff on

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So, anything interesting happen today?

Oh, that's right. Tuesday was Apple's annual "fall iPod event," in which the company refreshes its iPod line for the holiday buying season. And so it was that Steve Jobs appeared on stage and unveiled new iPods and an iTunes update.

Here with quick reactions to this event are Macworld's Chris Breen, Dan Frakes, Dan Moren, and Jason Snell, all of whom attended the event in San Francisco on Tuesday morning.

Download Episode #130

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Show Notes

Jason and Dan Moren liveblogged the entire Apple event.

We have complete coverage of the iPod updates, iTunes 8 and NBC’s return to the fold, the App Store and the 100 million milestone, and Apple’s hope that the iPhone 2.1 software will fix the dropped-call problem.

Peter Cohen also blogged about the apparent demise of the iPod classic.

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Audible.com. Podcast listeners can click here for a free audiobook from Audible.com.

Olympics and Intel Developer Forum

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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A couple of largish events with ancillary Apple connections occurred during the past two weeks—Beijing’s summer Olympic games and the Intel Developer Forum.

Apple and the Olympics? No, Steve Jobs wasn’t cavorting in a bikini during the beach volleyball matches. Rather Apple and Kodak helped put together the Olympics’ media center—along the way encouraging professional photographers to learn more about Aperture. Frequent Macworld contributor and photo pro Derrick Story was there to lend a hand. In our first interview, he talks about his experiences in China.

I’m then joined by former MacAddict editor in chief, Rik Myslewski, who attended the recent Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco. Rik and I talk about how Intel’s efforts will effect future Apple products, wireless broadband, and, perhaps, appliances in your home and automobile.

Download Episode #129

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Show Notes

In the early part of the show, I don my cranky-pants to rail against Earthlink’s spamBlocker technology, which includes a Challenge and Response “feature.” If you can’t get enough of these kinds of diatribes, take a gander at my Earthlink and the Devil’s Spam Filter blog post. Also, during my rant I mentioned C-Command’s outstanding spam-filtering software, the $30 SpamSieve. Earthlink customer or no, if you don’t have a copy of SpamSieve running on your Mac, you should.

iTunes, iPhones, and iMacs

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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The Old Farmer’s Almanac tells us that the Dog Days of Summer ended on August 11, and the last couple of weeks demonstrate that these old farmers know a thing or two. While some of Apple’s actions on July 11 did indeed make it appear as if the company was going to the dogs, Apple has quietly—sultrily, one might even say—gone about its business, apologizing for this, fixing that, and boasting about the other.

With the news from Apple being a bit on the thin side, we devote this episode of the Macworld Podcast to broader topics. Specifically, what a redesigned iTunes might look like, how things are going for the iPhone 3G and App Store after a month in the wild, and the significance of the iMac’s 10th anniversary.

A redesigned iTunes is the topic of my opening musing. Is iTunes just perfect as it is, or has it taken on so many tasks that it’s become unwieldy? I’m starting to believe the latter, but welcome your input.

Macworld Associate Editor Dan Moren and I then discuss iPhone 3G and App Store issues. What’s up with applications that appear and then disappear? What does that say about Apple’s vetting process? Will developers, demanding more communication from, Apple get it? And is it fair to ask for it just a month into the App Store’s operation? And need we fear an iPhone kill switch? Dan answers these and other questions.

MobileMe & iPhone apps

Posted by Christopher Breen on

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The events of July 11—the release of the iPhone and iPod touch 2.0 software, the sale of the iPhone 3G, the opening of the App Store, the release of iTunes 7.7, and the launch of MobileMe—have had a profound impact on Apple and the effects are still being felt. In this episode of the Macworld Podcast, we look at some of these events nearly three weeks on.

We start with my interview with Seattle Times columnist, TidBits managing editor, and frequent Macworld contributor Jeff Carlson. Jeff recently reviewed Apple’s MobileMe, a Web service that has had a bumpy beginning. Jeff’s -review of MobileMe received a similarly bumpy reception from some of our readers. We talk about that review as well as the ups and downs of MobileMe.

Macworld editorial director Jason Snell is then joined by Macworld senior editors Roman Loyola and Kelly Turner to talk about iPhone applications—the ones they like, the ones they thought they’d like but rarely use, and the ones they simply find curious. During this lively roundtable discussion, Jason and Roman share a romantic moment.