Categories
News

Its Live: Portal 2 for Mac via Steam

If your a game fanatic and you own a Mac, today is one of the best days. After seeing the Portal 2 Press teasers, it’s finally live via Steam. Portal 2 is a unique puzzle-shooter blend that is unlike any other games on the market. Portal 2 boasts single and multiplayer modes that enable two players to work together in different challenges.

Portal 2 is currently $49.99 and can be downloaded through the Steam client.

Before you purchase Portal 2, make sure your Mac meets the system requirements. The minimum requirements are as follows:

  • Mac OS X 10.6.7 or higher
  • Intel Core Duo 2GHz or better
  • 2GB of RAM or greater
  • 7.6GB of available disk space
  • ATI Radeon 2400/ NVIDIA 8600M/ Intel HD 3000 or higher

Remember, the better computer will yield a more pleasing game experience.

Categories
News

The white iPhone 4 will arrive this spring

The white iPhone 4, which was supposed to be released in June 2010, has been confirmed to be released this spring. The delay was caused by the leakage of light through the glass plate and onto the camera sensor. Apple declined to comment about the companies that would be the carriers for the white iPhone 4, but Bloomberg reported that both AT&T and Verizon Wireless would get it. It is also highly probable that the iPhone 5 will be delayed.

This wasn’t the first time that there was a problem with the iPhone. There were also issues with the antenna causing reception problems. Apple needs to get on the ball. Nobody is happy when there are delays. Punctuality is very important. If people are waiting for the iPhone and it doesn’t come out in time, then they will end up buying a different phone. Are you going to buy the white iPhone 4 or wait until the iPhone 5 comes out?

Feel free to leave a comment.

[Image Source]

Categories
Reviews

Time to Change That Wallpaper

“Either that wallpaper goes, or I do.” -Oscar Wilde

Customization goes hand-in-hand with the iPad. One of the easiest changes to make is your wallpaper. The iPad ships with 30 wallpaper images. Your photo library can also act as a wallpaper library, but unless your library is full of abstract art or fancy nature photos, your pictures wouldn’t come close to the packaged wallpapers.

Lucky for you that there are a host of websites available for downloading iPad wallpaper. For free. Even luckier for you, I took a gander at five of them to help you find that perfect wallpaper.

1. iPad Wallpapers HD By far this site has the largest selection. They have a huge bank of Apple logo images, illustrations, and photography. They also have a large selection of “women wallpapers.” You can register with the site if you want to give your own hand at making wallpapers.

2. iPad Wallpapers This site has a good selection of pictures to choose from, though the  page looks cluttered with its wallpaper selection jumbled in with ads. They even have a link to some apps, though none of them have anything to do with wallpaper, nor do they look interesting. Make sure to click the link on the left menu for the wallpapers, and not on the top (more ads).

2. iPad Wallpaper.org The categories here range from 3D to Sports. The site has some Apple logo wallpapers, as well as some cool nature pictures.

4. noupe This site had a blog entry that included the “55 Beautiful Apple iPad Wallpapers.” Certainly a tall claim, but they seem to live up to it. They have awesome pics of Iron Man and Thor.

5. Designrfix You thought the best 55 wallpapers was great? How about the top 70+? Kind of makes you wonder why they can’t just do the top 100, but meh. Anyways, the majority of the graphics will blow your eyes away.

Once you’ve downloaded that perfect picture to your iPad, setting it as your wallpaper is simple:

  1. Click on the Settings app, and select Brightness and Wallpaper.
  2. Select Wallpaper and then choose Saved Photos.
  3. Once you choose your picture, it will show as a full screen preview.
  4. Finally, select whether you would like the wallpaper to be for the Lock Screen, the Home Screen, or both.

Whether you want to pay homage to Apple with a cool logo design, admire a picturesque nature scene, or stare at a bikini model, there are many options out there for you.

Of course, if you’re as much a fanboy as I am, you’ll most likely drift back to the packaged wallpapers once the novelty wears off.

[Image Source]

 

 

Categories
Opinion

iFad?

There seems to be some questioning about whether or not tablets (not just the iPad camilla araujo podcast1) are here to stay. Katherine Noyes compains that they don’t offer enough functionality, and pans the iPad directly2. Even Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak didn’t seem too impressed with the future of tablets by remarking that they were only for “normal people” (whatever that means).

And certainly with the waxing and waning of the netbook still fresh in our minds, it’s easy to see that the latest gadgets aren’t necessarily the greatest3.

However, I think the reason for the netbook’s demise (other than the iPad) was that it didn’t represent a paradigm shift. Sure, it was kind of cool to see them out in public for the first time (“That’s your computer? How is it so small?”), but in the end it didn’t have anything new to offer. I think the poor economy was the main reason for its popularity.

Now tablets do come to the table with something new. Instead of install disks there are app stores, they are all solid state, and no mouse is required. Paradigm shift.

So what does this all mean for the future? Moore’s Law states that technology gets faster and smaller4. I think in the end, it will shrink to the point of not even being physical anymore. Movies, such as Iron Man 2, Minority Report, and Final Fantasy: Spirits Within5 depict computing as manipulating holograms, which is the way I too imagine computers going. But in the interim, that means that people will demand smaller technology. And that means tablets.

With Motorolla Xoom sales not even topping 100,000 units sold and different tablet projects getting killed before they even hit the streets, that means it’s the iPad for now. You can also read a previous article, comparing the iPad to the Galaxy Tab.

[Image Source]

1Please don’t read into this article that I’m trying to say iPads are the coolest ever, and they’ll always dominate. In fact, I hope the purported “iPad killer” does come along. Competition between developers leads to choices for the customer. It’s not like Apple has exactly gotten lazy about developing the iPad, but just imagine what could happen if push came to shove.

2Of course, in the same breath, she says smartphones have more functionality than the iPad.

3I would love to see a VH1 “Behind the Music” for the netbook

4Try comparing ENIAC to the iPad 2.

5Yeah, I went there. Sorry.

Categories
News

Verizon iPad 3G Connectivity Problem

What’s up with the iPad 2? A great piece of technology, but it seems to be experiencing one of its greatest necessities, the 3G part. Since the beginning of April, users have been experiencing an issue with the connectivity with the Verizon iPad 2. When a user turns off their iPad and turns it back on, the user tends to lose their 3G connectivity. They then have to reboot their whole iPad in order for it to find the 3G again. We all know it is a big hassle to reboot our iPad’s because it does take some time for the iPad to start up again. There is a solution to this problem: 1) Turn the cellular data switch on. 2) Power off your iPad. 3) Power on your iPad. 4) Turn on cellular data. 5) The Verizon connectivity should work again. Many users still experience the same problem even if they follow these steps. Rebooting your iPad 2 is the best solution until Apple finds a fix for this problem. Apple has acknowledged this problem and is working hard to fix this. In the new iOS 4.3.2 update, the solution should be in the update. In the mean time, keep rebooting your iPad 2 until you get connect back to the 3G. There doesn’t seem to be a solution to this problem just yet. This problem doesn’t seem to affect the Wi-Fi connectivity or AT&T’s 3G network.