Innehållsförteckning för Dec-12 från MacLife

The Hottest Articles on MacLife.com 7 Big Apps That Still Need iPhone 5 Optimization Begone black bars! http://bit.ly/ML_7BigApps Apple Allegedly Keeps Third Parties in Dark on Lightning Where are our cheaper third-party Lightning adapters? http://bit.ly/ML_Lightning How to Ensure Your Mac Is Working Properly Maybe your Mac is fine...or maybe it isn’t. Here’s how to know for sure. http://bit.ly/ML_Ensure How to Downgrade Back to iOS 5 Or, how to travel back in time and tell yourself that Apple’s new Maps app isn’t all that great. http://bit.ly/ML_iOS5Downgrade Get Social! Facebook facebook.com/maclife Twitter twitter.com/maclife Our Apps Mac|Life Digital Edition for iPad Apple Newsstand MacLife for iPhone bit.ly/ML_iphone_app…

Despite the spit and polish Apple has applied to it year after year, iTunes has remained largely the same experience since Casady & Greene first released SoundJam MP 13 years ago, before Cupertino snapped it up and reworked it into the all-purpose media player we know and love today. But by the time you read this, that experience likely will have changed with the planned October release of iTunes 11, the company’s first major overhaul of the software, which introduces a complete redesign, a more modern storefront, and deeper iCloud integration. NEW LOOK, NEW STORE The first thing you’ll notice about iTunes 11 is its emphasis on the visual. While the playback and search controls across the top of the main window bear a passing resemblance to iTunes 10, the…

THE BRIDGE SCHOOL CONCERTS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION $16.99 I’ve been lucky enough to see the Bridge School Concert a couple times—Neil Young and his wife Pegi organize it every October at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View (right next to the Google campus, actually), and the all-acoustic performances by amazing and eclectic musicians are always the highlight of my fall. All proceeds from this 25-song album benefit the Bridge School, which serves children with severe speech and physical impairments. MOONRISE KINGDOM $19.99 I own a bunch of Wes Anderson movies (my favorite is The Royal Tenenbaums), but this one caught me by surprise. Yes, it’s got Bill Murray, like any good Anderson opus should, but also Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, and the sublime Tilda Swinton. At press time,…

One of the best things about being an iPhone user is how Apple keeps making your device better, even after you’ve bought it. Within less than a week of iOS 6s September release, it was on 100 million iOS devices. Apple sold 5 million iPhone 5 units running iOS 6 in that time, which means the other 95 million were people upgrading existing iPhones, IPod touches, and iPads. Not every device is compatible with iOS 6 (the first iPad, the iPhone 3G, and the third-gen iPod touch are left out), but those that are rocking the new operating system are enjoying tons of new features. Better social media integration makes it easy to share links, photos, and thoughts without needing to open a Facebook or Twitter app. Mail, Notification Center,…

FACETIME OVER CELLULAR FaceTime calls can now be made over the cellular network, allowing you to video chat with other iOS users anywhere (assuming your carrier allows it). You can enable FaceTime over Cellular by visiting Settings > FaceTime and flipping the switch for Use Cellular Data. LATE NIGHT EQUALIZER There is a new equalizer setting for the Music app (Settings > Music > EQ) called “Late Night.” CLOCK APP ON iPAD The iPad has finally received a Clock app that will not only let you create alarms, use a stopwatch, and see multiple clocks in other time zones, but also see the weather in each time zone location. GUIDED ACCESS A new accessibility feature called Guided Access allows a single app to be locked to the screen—users need a…

“What’s on TV tonight?” isn’t quite as easy a question as it used to be. With so many ways to watch our favorite shows and movies, just about anything can be on whenever (and wherever) we want—it’s just a matter of narrowing down the options. Filtering through it all just got a whole lot easier with NextGuide, a dramatic reimagining of the classic TV Guide. Instead of an unwieldy list of unwatchable channels, you get vivid programming squares that span cable TV, iTunes, Netflix, and Hulu Plus. NextGuide is customizable in a variety of ways, and what really sets it apart from your old-school TV guide is its use of keywords. If you’re a Twilight fan, for example, you can save a search for “vampires” or “Robert Pattinson,” and you’ll…

Rather than zoom in for a single hole across a larger map, Wonderputt puts nearly its entire mini-golf course right in front of you, with gorgeous visual design and fantastic animation that shows the world shifting to create new goals. The iPad game accomplishes this task by reusing precious screen real estate multiple times across a single session. It’s amazing to see a farm dynamically change into a snowy hill, which then turns into a pond with lily pad safe zones—all right in front of you with dazzling results. The pull-and-release touch controls are effective, but the game only features a single course; fine for the asking price, but much less than I wanted to play! The bottom line. Light on content but heavy on style, Wonderputt offers a striking…

The Compact Disc recently celebrated its 30th birthday, though for most people, digital files stored on a Mac or mobile device have completely replaced plastic discs shoved inside a stereo. But despite recent improvements to the speakers inside many late-model Macs, they’re still lacking when it comes to listening to your favorite tunes. Palo Alto Audio’s Cubik is a pair of desktop speakers built to wring as much sound as possible out of your files, without hogging much space on your desk. Screw-in metal stands position the speakers at an upward angle, creating a sweet spot that hits you right about ear level, for the best sound reproduction. A bit of vertical adjustment might be nice, but in most cases, the speakers are angled just about right. Cubik draws audio…

It hasn’t been quite a full year since Adobe last released a new version of its consumer-centric image editor, Photoshop Elements. During this time, the company has worked hard to incorporate more code from its big brother, and the impressive results are available now. The first thing you’ll notice about Photoshop Elements 11 is that it seems to be trading places with its sibling. Where Photoshop CS6 introduced a new, darker user interface seemingly borrowed from last year’s Elements 10, version 11 features an eye-pleasing light gray that’s generally brighter and more user-friendly, with larger icons that won’t strain the eyes. While this move may be welcome for new buyers of Elements, veteran users will likely need to spend a little time getting acquainted with the UI. Thankfully, Photoshop Elements…

Going head-to-head with VMware Fusion 5 (see opposite page) is Parallels Desktop 8. This latest version of Parallels boasts speed improvements and other enhancements such as support for 32GB of RAM. But as with Fusion 5, there aren’t many headline improvements over the previous versions. Getting started with virtualization can be a confusing minefield of operating system jargon and instructions. Here Parallels scores very highly on our ease-of-use scale. Even if you haven’t downloaded the software, Parallels will go and fetch the right thing, making the whole process simple. Within seconds you can be on your way to installing Ubuntu or Android—you can even get OS X from your rescue partition, and naturally, a host of Windows options. Once you’ve chosen what operating system you’d like Parallels to run, the…

iWeb is languishing, unchanged since iLife ’09, and although it’s compatible with Mountain Lion, it’s pretty obvious that Apple has given up on producing a web design app. Other applications offer similar features, but not many offer iWeb’s flexible, WSIWYG design features, which work like desktop publishing, letting you put objects and text boxes anywhere on the page. Dreamweaver ($399 standalone, part of Creative Suite 6 bundles starting at $1,899, and part of Creative Cloud from $49/month, www.adobe.com) is expensive and can be complex, but Flux, by the Escapers, hits the sweet spot between flexibility and price. If you’re more of a designer than a coder, you’ll appreciate Flux’s interface. The UI can be a little intimidating when you first open it, with menus at the top, bottom, and side…

Few things in life are as magical as watching inanimate objects come to life—something about it brings out the kid in everyone. iStopMotion 3 for Mac is likely to rekindle that interest in a big way, particularly for those old enough to remember when classics like the original King Kong were in constant rotation on TV. We previously reviewed the cheaper iPad app (June/12, 5 out of 5 stars), which, at $9.99, has the same basic feature set. But on the Mac side, the all-new version 3 offers compelling advantages, not the least of which is the ability to export finished animations to iMovie or Final Cut Pro X. Like the iPad version, iStopMotion 3 for Mac captures incoming video one frame at a time, using “onion skinning” to show…

Everyone’s a nerd about something, and maps are one of my favorite things to be nerdy about. As a kid I drew maps of my neighborhood on graph paper, and on road trips I used to pore over the AAA atlas long past the point of carsickness. So when I heard about Satellite Eyes, I installed it on all my Macs in about five minutes. This little app lives in your menu bar, uses Location Services to periodically check your location, then it changes your desktop image to a map of the area. The default, Bing Aerial, is great—the muted greens, browns, and grays don’t distract too much from my windows, and you can select Street, Neighborhood, City, or Region view. Who knew the building two doors down had a…

Have you ever had someone phone you up with a Mac-related problem that would be easy to solve if only you could see their screen? Or you’ve phoned a friend, but without using your Mac they can’t really help? The good news is that sharing your Mac’s screen or allowing remote control over the Internet—known as remote access—is both easy and free, using an app called TeamViewer. This app enables a designated person to use the machine as though they were sitting in front of it, and talk to the person on the other Mac as they do so. Better still, you don’t even need administrator access to either Mac, since TeamViewer doesn’t necessarily require installation. You can even remotely control a Mac using iOS devices. Don’t worry—we’re going to…

If you’re a frequent traveler, iPhoto’s Places feature is the perfect way to keep track of where you’ve been and look at the photos you took along the way. You can use the Zoom tool, in the bottom-left corner, to change the level of magnification, and drag on the map to view different areas. You can use the menus for navigation too (see Step 6), and when you click a pin (Step 5), iPhoto displays the location name and a button that you can click to view the photos you took there. The mapping process is all very straightforward in principle, and only becomes more complicated if you want to customize geographical locations or add your own. For this, you need to pay special attention to Step 7, where you…

FROM REVOLUTION TO EVOLUTION The iPhone 5 launched to wildly positive reviews and is consistently called the best phone Apple has ever made, but those kudos almost always come with the same caveat: that it isn’t a massive departure from the iPhone 4S, so those who bought last year’s model can skip the new one. Well, duh. Sorry to be snippy, but I’ve come to find those types of comments a little grating—at least, when delivered as a kind of sigh at the end of an otherwise glowing recommendation. “The iPhone 5 is an incredible phone, but…sigh…it’s so much like last year’s.” To be fair, you can’t really avoid the comparison in a review, but a responsible writer can make the point without seeming to question the necessity of the…

There’s a problem with the Internet: it’s never been easier to create content that can be enjoyed by hundreds, thousands, even millions, but getting paid for your efforts? Forget about it. Most people expect content to be free, and many are turned off by the idea of paid sites. So what’s the solution? How can you earn something for your hard work, and how can your viewers reward you if they like what you’ve offered them? A small Swedish company thinks it may have found the answer, so we spoke to one of its co-founders, Linus Olsson, to learn a little more about what Flattr is all about. “Flattr was born as a brainchild of my childhood friend Peter Sunde and is a result of his will to play along…

ROBIN ETRE FIVEPOINT GLOVES www.etreshop.com $64.75 wool, $178.05 cashmere Winter is here, and nothing makes a better gift than cashmere gloves—and these beautiful, well-made gloves from Etre have special “contactwoven” fingertips that let me use my iPhone without taking them off. They come in sage or camel, and the wool variety are available in black, blue, red, or a blue Fairisle pattern. ANDREW PATHWAY FOLIO www.goincase.com $79.95 I like the rugged feel of vintage leather bags, and Incase’s handsome Pathway collection combines tough twill fabric with leather trim. The Folio case (for 11-to 15-inch laptops) also opens into a stand, tilting my keyboard to a nice angle for typing, and it’s even got a pocket for a magazine. SUSIE PARROT MINIKIT NEO www.parrotshopping.com $99.99 I’ve used—and been frustrated by—lots of…

SHARE FROM NOTIFICATION CENTER You can post to Twitter and Facebook right from Notification Center once you enable the Share widget in Settings > Notifications. Pulling down Notification Center will now display a “Tap to Tweet” and “Tap to Post” button that will bring up share sheets for Twitter and Facebook, respectively. DO NOT DISTURB Do Not Disturb lets you mute notifications at night. Go to Settings > Notifications > Do Not Disturb to turn it on, set the hours, and choose whether to allow certain calls. You can manually enable Do Not Disturb during nonscheduled hours in Settings; flip the Do Not Disturb switch to On. A moon will appear in the status bar when enabled. iCLOUD PASSBOOK SYNCING iCloud supports Passbook Syncing, which keeps all of your passes…

LOCATION-BASED SETTINGS PROFILES If I’m in range of my home Wi-Fi network, I’m probably at home. So my iPhone shouldn’t require a passcode to unlock it. But as soon as I leave home, lock that puppy down! PROXIMITY NOTIFICATIONS If my Mac and iPhone are close together and the Mac is being used, I don’t need my iPhone to notify me about new email or Facebook messages. Odds are I’m either using the big versions of those apps, or I’m working on something else. Alternatively, let me set notification hours per app—Facebook only after 5pm, and so on. SMARTER AUTOCORRECT There’s got to be a better way to teach iOS new words—right now all I can do is retype the word over and over until it stops being autocorrected, or…

YouTube There’s a new official YouTube app (free, iPhone) available to replace the one that used to come standard with iOS, but was cut from iOS 6. It’s a little rough around the edges right now, but still worth putting on your home screen as it’s sure to keep getting better. Evernote Hello I started using Evernote Hello (free, iPhone) to help me remember where and when I meet people. If I think to use it right away, the app tracks the time and location automatically. You can snap a picture while grabbing info, and optionally auto-email your details back to them. Routesy Pro I went on the hunt for a third-party app now that Maps isn’t offering directions to Bay Area transit. Routesy Pro ($4.99, iPhone) tells me which…

If you’ve played either of the fantastic Infinity Blade titles, you already know the basic setup of Avengers Initiative. You’ll guide a surprisingly subdued Hulk through one-on-one melee battles, swiping at the screen to bring those big, green mitts in contact with an enemy’s noggin. The influence is painfully obvious, but it’s luckily not just a straight clone, as excellent new concepts benefit the experience. Finishing moves are a welcome addition to the formula, for example, as you can fill a meter to unleash crazy antics on foes. Plus, mixing and matching perk-equipped costume pieces is fantastic, and the Marvel universe characters work splendidly in the game’s context—and additional Avengers have been teased for updates. The bottom line. While it’s not a revolution in the ideas department, Avengers Initiative is…

With iTunes, Apple TV, and a plethora of iOS devices, the incentive is there to convert all the entertainment you own into digital form. As you do, you may notice that some files play back louder than others (even with the iTunes Sound Check feature turned on), and sometimes loud just isn’t loud enough, especially on an iOS device’s or Mac’s built-in speaker. Boom is a handy Mac app designed to crank up the sound. It has two functions: The first is to increase the volume of your files’ audio on a per-file basis—highly useful when you need louder sound on your iOS device or your Apple TV. The second function is to crank your Mac’s volume to the max, far louder than the default volume settings. Boom will ask…

Last year’s Premiere Elements 10 was already a formidable opponent to Apple’s cheaper iMovie, and Adobe wisely hasn’t messed too much with that winning formula for Premiere Elements 11. Unlike the newly revamped Photoshop Elements 11, most of the changes here are modest but welcome improvements for veterans and new users alike. Despite the double-digit version number, this is actually only the third edition of Premiere Elements for the Mac. While last year’s release relied heavily on new features, for this year, Adobe streamlined the existing tools, adding a few smaller tricks in the process. As the central hub for both Elements applications, Elements Organizer gets a lot of love with version 11. Organizer can now sort and manage videos and photos with a trio of new view modes already…

Fusion 5, the latest virtualization tool from VMware, comes less than a year after version 4 and as such has only received a light brush of new headline features. Support for Retina displays and USB 3.0 in Windows 8 is included, as well as optimization for the latest Macs, battery life improvements for those using a MacBook, and other minor enhancements. The Pro version of Fusion has been updated to keep the IT administrators happy as well. Installing a copy of Windows is simple enough, though not as elegant or user-friendly as with Parallels (see opposite page). Windows 7 took about 30 minutes to install from a DVD. We like the slickness of Fusion—it feels Mac-like and looks good. Some of the icons are a touch generic, and first-time users…

Originally released on the PC in early 2009, the enhanced Gold Edition of Creative Assembly’s Empire: Total War finally storms the shores of Macs thanks to Feral Interactive, delivering 18th-century conquest strategy action to fans of the longtime series. Your goal: to lead one of 12 empires and control a specified number of territories on the historically accurate maps before each match ends. Total War’s turn-based approach expends half a year of in-game time per turn, and during your opportunities, you’ll give build orders, research technology, position troops on the battlefield, and order attacks. While you can negotiate treaties and sue for peace, make no mistake: the winner is the one with the most territories. I’m all for peaceful solutions, but this is Total War, not Total Gandhi. The actual…

The first thing that you’ll notice about Western Digital’s My Net N900 HD dual-band wireless router is its size. Compared to the newest AirPort Express, the N900 is huge. But not an iota of its husky dimensions goes to waste. The N900’s internal antenna lets it fit into cramped spaces. And while the 2012 AirPort Express only has space for a single Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, the N900 is rocking seven of them, plus a pair of USB 2.0 ports for hooking up an external hard drive and printer. But enough about the N900’s wired ports—let’s talk about what it can do once the cables are cut. Via its 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the N900 kicks out Wireless-N data at 450Kbps. It’s not equipped to handle 802.11ac, so it’s not…

Traveller’s Tales continues to churn out LEGO platformers based on licensed franchises with varying results, and with Feral Interactive bringing many to the Mac. Frankly, despite a cute tone and easy-going gameplay model, the games have grown a bit stagnant in the originality department. But LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes manages to break the mold, creating an engaging world you’ll want to return to in search of those elusive plastic blocks. If you’re familiar with previous LEGO titles, the very first cut-scene of LEGO Batman 2 is a bit startling. Leaving behind a series tradition for the better, all of the characters are finally (and thankfully) fully voiced. Sure, the wordless winks and grunts of previous LEGO titles were amusing, but a great cast of voice actors really brings…

With every new device and new software release, it becomes increasingly clear that Apple’s plan for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad is to make them all work seamlessly together, with iCloud as the hub they all draw from. Nowhere is this more clear than when it comes to iMessage, Apple’s way of sending text and multimedia messages to your contacts for free. This feature has been available to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users for a while, enabling owners of those devices to talk to each other over Wi-Fi or 3G. But it has only become part of OS X with the arrival of Mountain Lion. The app lets you send messages to other Apple users, using either their phone number or email address, and to see your conversations. It…

2012: LIVING IN THE FUTURE Robin: Passbook I love flying, but I don’t love remembering to print out my boarding pass at home, or standing in line to do so at the airport. So I’m thrilled that I can send my United, Delta, and American Airlines tickets to Passbook, ready to scan at San Francisco International—I feel like Judy Jetson. Mark: Messages This is the year when my friends and family started texting more than talking, and I resisted until Mountain Lion’s Messages app. Now they can send me messages that I can receive and reply to on my Mac, with a real keyboard, and when I’m away from my Mac, they still come through on my iPod touch, too. Chris: AirPlay Mirroring I love video game consoles. But being…

LETTER OF THE MONTH It seems like someone there is asleep, because I don’t think I have seen a word about Minecraft in your magazine. If you ask me, Minecraft is the best thing that has ever happened to computer games—AND it’s Mac compatible. If you aren’t familiar with the game, I strongly suggest giving it a try (go to www.minecraft.net). At a basic level the game is quite simple: learn a few mechanics and you’re thrown into a huge 3D world. The game can also be quite daunting, with enough packed in to fill an online resource guide (www.minecraftwiki.net) with over 2,000 articles (so far). I’ve been playing every day for almost a year and I’m still enthralled. There is nothing else like it that I know of. It…

What’s the clock speed of the processor in your iMac, MacBook, or whatever? I’ll bet you don’t know. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t either until I selected About This Mac in the Apple menu to find out that the iMac I’m writing this on has a 3.2GHz Intel Core i3. This little Q&A is not intended to embarrass you—or me—but instead to demonstrate a simple point: processor clock speeds, so top-of-mind a decade ago, have faded into the mists of marketing antiquity. Today’s Macs are snappy enough for most day-to-day computing tasks; selling a system based on how fast it can, say, render a webpage is passé. What’s important today is how long the battery in your MacBook (or iPad or iPhone) will last, and how effortlessly your device…

THE iPHONE HAS BECOME SO UBIQUITOUS IN OUR LIVES THAT WE HAVE TO KEEP REMINDING OURSELVES IT’S ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD. In that time, we went from a $600 “iPod, phone, and Internet communicator” that couldn’t even run native third-party apps, to the impossibly svelte, surprisingly powerful, pocket-sized computer that we know and love. All of us on staff at Mac|Life sit at computers all day, but our trusty, indispensable iPhones get even more use, keeping our schedules straight, our to-do lists handy, our music bumping, and our kids entertained. The iPhone is the first device we reach for in the morning and the last one we put down at night. So when Apple decides to make big changes—shaking up the form factor, enlarging the screen for the very first…

SHARED PHOTO STREAMS Sharing photos with family and friends is a snap with Shared Photo Streams in the Photos app. Just tap Edit, select the photos you’d like to share, tap the Share button, and then Photo Stream. Type in the email addresses of those you’d like to share with, specify a Photo Stream name, and then select whether or not to allow direct viewing of the shared Photo Stream on iCloud.com. NOTIFICATIONS, COMMENTS, AND LIKES Whenever a photo is added to a Shared Photo Stream, users subscribed to that stream will automatically be notified of the added photos. People viewing your shared photos can “like” and leave comments on them, too. (ALMOST) UNLIMITED SELECTION In previous versions of iOS, Apple only let you select five photos at a time…

While stage and screenwriters can easily pen their latest opus using a laptop at any Starbucks instead of being chained to a desk, the creators of Final Draft are trying to modernize the experience even further by empowering a new generation of scribes armed with only an iPad. Final Draft Writer expands on the company’s earlier Reader app, a read-only offering that disappointed many screenwriters and playwrights. With Writer, words can now flow straight out of a writer’s head and into the iPad while remaining fully compatible with Mac and PC versions. Writer offers the same great professionally formatted templates for film, television, and stage plays as the desktop version, removing the grunt work of manually adding scene numbers and pagination elements such as “MORE” (for dialogue) and “CONTINUED” (for…

At first glance, The World Ends With You: Solo Remix seems like a fairly common Japanese role-playing game, with stereotypical elements like the spiky-haired lead and the shy girl who finds inner strength. But beyond those initial impressions, this gorgeous RPG sets itself apart with absolutely addictive, real-time combat. When Neku awakens, confused in an alternate-reality version of Tokyo’s Shibuya district, he’s unwittingly entered into a weeklong game to eliminate monsters from the streets—or be erased himself. Combat requires the collection and assignment of pins, each one offering different attacks through touchscreen gestures. Attacking the game’s creatures, with assistance from an A.I. partner, flows wonderfully, and it’s paired with an amazing soundtrack that stays in your head for days. Solo Remix is anything but a cheap, casual iOS title. At…

Being an animal lover and having a wife who works for a local shelter is dangerous business. Our growing army of adopted furry friends is ever-expanding, thanks to our penchant for taking turns catching the “Awww, maybe just one more” bug. Our quartet of cats, duo of doggies, and solo guinea pig are certainly a handful, but their goofy antics and unconditional love bring us ample joy. As with many other pet owners, our animal companions are very much our children, and they’re an important part of our household and our lives. Keeping them happy and healthy is a high priority, and this great selection of apps is just the thing to keep our juggling act better balanced. Dogs eat anything and everything they can get their snouts on, and…

Let’s be honest: the battery life of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S can kinda suck—but Spyder’s PowerShadow i4 Battery Case & Charge/Sync Dock is designed to make it suck a whole lot less. Made out of black polycarbonate, the i4 boasts a built-in 2000mAh battery pack that, according to our testing, can charge a fully drained iPhone 4S to between 75 to 80 percent of its full capacity. Like all battery cases, the i4 will increase the size and weight of your svelte Cupertino-designed handset significantly. But for power users who can’t make it through their day without using up every last bit of juice their iPhone can muster, the extra heft is a reasonable compromise given the amount of extra power the case brings to the party. The…

With millions of iPhones and iPods sold, it seems like everyone has a pair of the iconic white Apple earbuds, but since not everyone has the same shape of ear, the one-size-fits-all style barely fit anybody. Personally, I hated the old earbuds—they didn’t stay put, and the hard, unforgiving plastic made my ears ache after just a couple of minutes. Apple totally redesigned their earbuds—now preciously named EarPods (insert eye roll here)—for the iPhone 5, fifth-gen iPod touch, and seventh-gen iPod nano. You can also buy them online or at the Apple Store for $29. But should you? My answer is a qualified no. They do fit better and sound better than the old stock Apple earbuds. The bud part is rounder, sitting delicately in your ear. The speaker points…

If you do much multiplayer gaming, a good headset with microphone is pretty much a must. And if that gaming consists of shooters of the Call of Duty variety, a surround-sound headset can make the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of being dominated by a hyperaggressive 12-year-old, thanks to the ability to pinpoint the direction of important sounds—sounds like, you know, shooting. It’s natural to be skeptical of the idea of surround-sound from a headset; early attempts at the technology were underwhelming at best. But Astro’s A50 absolutely delivers in this regard, presenting a near-seamless, 360-degree sound field that puts Dolby’s Pro Logic IIx technology to excellent use to simulate a seven-speaker setup. Yes, that’s simulate; it’s important to note that this headset can’t actually accept…

When I got my 11-inch MacBook Air, I loved the form factor, but I had a heck of a time finding a decent sleeve for it—everything seemed sized for the 13-inch models or the smaller iPad. So for a while my Air just lounged in a zippered case for the 13-inch Air, like a kid playing dress-up with grown-ups’ clothing. But now my search is over, because the Super Robot MacBook Air Sleeve is perfectly sized for the 11-inch (or 13-inch) Air, plus it’s well constructed, and handsome in deep brown polyurethane with a soft leathery lining. It snaps shut with magnets and an elastic strap, and it’s resistant to small amounts of water. And I love the super robot graphic, from Taiwanese artist Fu. The bottom line. This is…

If you’re working with video, reviewing files can be a bit of a hassle on the Mac. QuickTime Player is fine for just watching videos, but since its metamorphosis from version 7 to X, the handier features for video pros were either lost or crippled in some way. Of course, you could always launch your favorite editing application, but even a “light” editor like iMovie takes a while to load. So you’re stuck between an overly simplified app and an overly complex one. Pro Player’s sole purpose is to help you review clips quickly and efficiently. Let’s be clear though: unlike QuickTime 7, which allowed you to select, copy, and paste parts of a clip, Pro Player only does what its name implies. It plays files. You get no editing…

TECH SUPPORT & TECHSPLANATIONS ONCE YOU POP… I just upgraded to Mountain Lion and I’m having trouble accessing my Yahoo POP email account. In my intelligence, I deleted the account and went to reset the settings. Afterwards, I noticed that I had lost all of my email that I hadn’t moved into folders. I managed to get my POP account back, but now I want to see if I can manually restore the emails from my Time Machine backup. You can import the POP mailboxes back into Mail, but the process is a little tricky. To begin, we’ll need to show hidden files in the Finder, because the Library folder on the Time Machine drive (as on your Mac) is hidden by default. To do this, open Terminal (located in…

There are two ways to tag your photos with the places they were taken. If you have a camera with a built-in GPS receiver, it’s done for you. Your photos will be tagged automatically with the location data by the camera itself. This data is stored as longitude and latitude coordinates, which iPhoto turns into named locations, which show up as pins on the Places map. You can use Places to view all the photos taken at a specific location. As yet, only a few cameras have built-in GPS receivers, but you can also “pin” your photos to map locations manually. iPhoto’s Places can be a little confusing, though, and you may run into a couple of features that don’t work the way you might expect, or don’t appear to…