Innehållsförteckning för Apr-13 från MacLife

MORE MAC|LIFE, LESS PAPER The Hottest Articles on MacLife.com The 25 Best Free iPhone Games Loading up your iPad with games isn’t difficult, but filling it with the best the App Store has to offer can be a challenging endeavor. We’re here to ease that process with a varied and regularly updated selection of the top tablet experiences available. http://bit.ly/ML_BestiPadGames iPhone 5 Case Review Roundup iPhone 5 cases were a bit on the scarce side right at launch, but now they’re multiplying faster than tribbles. We’re going to review every case we get our hands on, and we’ll keep this gallery updated as we do. http://bit.ly/ML_iPhone5CaseRoundup How the 27-Inch iMac Stacks Up as a Gaming Rig Thinking of buying a brand-new iMac? Check out how the new late-2012 27-inch model…

Admit it: ever since you first saw Star Wars, you’ve wanted a robot companion of your very own. Well, thanks to Las Vegas–based company Romotive, you’ll now get your chance. Say hello to Romo, a diminutive robot that harnesses the power of iOS devices and technology. “Robots are the great unfulfilled promise of science fiction,” states Romotive CEO Keller Rinaudo. “But robots today are either cheap pieces of plastic or million-dollar tech showpieces. So we set out to build a robot that can do a lot of what robots do in the movies, at a price that 12-year-old versions of ourselves could afford.” Primarily conceived of by Rinaudo and his colleagues/longtime friends Phu Nguyen and Peter Seid, Romo comes to life when you attach your iPhone 4/4S or fourth-generation iPod…

HOFFMAN: THE URCHIN www.boommovement.com $149.99 Sometimes, belting out my own tunes in the shower just isn’t enough. That’s why I’m turning to Boom’s water-resistant (but not waterproof) Bluetooth Urchin speaker. Designed for use in almost any environment and featuring interchangeable silicone skins, the Urchin is built for rugged use and boasts a unique form factor that makes it hypnotically appealing—even if it looks more like a sea sponge than an urchin. SUSIE: NESSIE www.bluemic.com $99.99 I love how easy it is to record songs and podcasts with my Mac. But making them sound great isn’t as obvious. Blue Mics’ Nessie is designed to correct common recording flaws in real time. From the built-in pop filter and the vibration-dampening shockmount to the adaptive EQ and level control, it makes me sound…

The Mac was the first computer that supported digital video, its QuickTime architecture helping to ensure that for many years it was the platform of choice for digital video production. Later came video CDs and DVD playback, and of course, iMovie and Final Cut. A consequence of all this support for video creation on the Mac is that it’s always had excellent video playback capabilities for ordinary users, too. From the first moment you turn on your Mac, it’s able to play back digital videos and with a few tweaks and additions, play or convert any video format. There’s no reason your Mac can’t deal with even the most obscure video file. Since the release of the iPod Video many years ago, Apple’s portable devices have allowed you to watch…

Revised and refined significantly since its debut as a web game, and brought to the App Store by a dream team of indie designers, Hundreds is one of the smartest and most satisfying touch-based games we’ve ever played, particularly on an iPad. Each stage focuses on growing the visible balls until they cumulatively reach the total of 100, which is helpfully displayed in progress upon the stark off-white backdrops. Tapping and holding any ball makes it expand, but mindless magnification will only get you in trouble, as touching nearly anything else on the screen with an active ball will trigger immediate defeat. As such, you’ll need to watch the other moving balls and myriad hazards that appear as the game’s 100 stages progress in difficulty, and Hundreds only spends so…

If you’re going to try to beat Google at its own game, you need three things: good design, quick results, and an impressive algorithm. Izik, a new iPad-only browser from relatively unknown search start-up Blekko, performs remarkably well in every respect, reimagining everything you expect from a search engine with a revolutionary, stunning design built for the multitouch generation. The first thing you’ll notice about Izik is its interface. A big, bold search window beckons you inside, along with popular and trending topics if you’re looking for a little inspiration. As you type a query, Izik takes its three best guesses to read your mind, but the real magic begins after you tap the Search button. Results are presented in beautiful, scrollable rows accompanied by images, headlines, and small blurbs…

Gimmicky apps certainly have their place on our iPhones, but ultimately, they end up in one of those folders that rarely gets opened—or just deleted outright. Cycloramic might not seem like it belongs in that class, but after a few attempts to make a panoramic photo, it becomes clear that this phone-spinning app is mostly a short-lived diversion. With an iPhone 5, you can operate in hands-free mode, which uses the device’s built-in vibration to rotate the handset when placed speaker-side-down on a table. It’s pretty cool when it works, but even the recommended surfaces—granite and glass—didn’t produce the smoothest results. We often needed to nudge the phone during the spin cycle, and rarely did we produce a photo that was worth keeping. We fared better with an iPhone 4S,…

With a sparkling new visual overhaul, the sequel to one of the App Store’s biggest free sensations makes a strong impression, though it’s not just the graphics that impress in Temple Run 2. Along with the strong makeover, the behind-the-back running game also delivers a wider array of terrain to rush through, including zip lines and mine cart segments, not to mention twisting, curved paths. You’ll still see a fair amount of repetitive terrain, but the more diverse layouts keep the chases livelier throughout. It’s disappointing that folks can buy their way up the leaderboards with packs of gems and coins, but stock your Game Center friends list with skilled friends and the high score chase will remain alive and well. The bottom line. Notable upgrades make this one of…

Switchers welcome Using a Bluetooth keyboard with more than one device can be a royal pain. If both devices are on, you sometimes have to tell one to forget the keyboard exists, so it’ll be available for the other. Logitech’s Easy-Switch feature kills this problem. You can pair the K810 with three devices (say, a Mac, an iPad, and your Apple TV), then just hit a button to switch between them. The K810 lights up, too. It’s got a pleasant backlighting that fades automatically after a few seconds of inactivity, then comes back as your hands approach the keyboard, automatically adjusting the brightness based on how dark the room is. I did find the fade-in, fadeout slightly distracting at first, but got used to it pretty quickly. Sadly, this is…

Network-attached storage (NAS) may not be the sexiest hardware purchase, but for serving up media content or sharing files across a network, such investments can be a godsend. Asustor’s Apple-friendly NAS lineup combines attractive hardware powered by dual-core Intel Atom processors with its own innovative ADM (Asustor Data Master) operating system for cross-platform support across Mac, Windows, and Linux. While each model can work with a single hard drive or SSD, the advantage of network-attached storage comes when combining multiple drives into a RAID. Installing four 2TB drives and using the default RAID 5 netted us just under 6TB of space after formatting; the additional 2TB is used for protection against a single drive failure. It’s easy to hot-swap in a new drive—even a larger-capacity drive—and the NAS will synchronize…

“So, it’s come to this,” we keep joking around the office, “Susie is reviewing a chunk of wood.” Giggle! But I guess when you think about it, all the hardware we review is a chunk of...something, and this particular chunk of wood is actually a solution to a problem: losing the Apple TV remote in the couch cushions. That little devil is 0.2 inches thick, and less than 5 inches tall, and its tapered shape seems like it seeks out tiny crevices and hides there. I often just let it stay lost and use the Remote app on my iPhone instead, but now with Bloc, the Apple TV remote has a place, perched in a dedicated compartment on this 8x5.25-inch stand of solid wood. The Apple TV itself also has…

The Kensington Folio Trio is a full-featured mobile workstation, complete with built-in iPad stand, notepad holder, 3-ring binder for notes, folio for papers, card holders, pen loops, and iPad stylus loop. In theory, the Folio Trio is great—it holds everything you’d need for an office meeting, and keeps it nicely organized. It’s also sturdily constructed of faux-leather—which, if you’re an animal lover, you might appreciate, though most will probably expect real leather for the price. In practice, the setup is more cumbersome than it’s worth. Empty, the Folio Trio weighs a full pound more than the newest 1.44-pound iPad. This is without a notebook or any other papers. Folded, it’s also nearly the size of a 15-inch MacBook Pro, but half an inch thicker. Needless to say, this thing is…

iStat Menus appeals to those who love to keep a close eye on a system’s performance and need detailed information available at the click of a mouse. The product is in two parts: one that’s essentially a fancy preferences panel, plus several modules that live in the menu bar. You use the former to toggle and configure the latter. Each module performs a separate task, enabling usage-monitoring for CPUs, memory, disks, batteries and network activity. A drop-down with extensive data is available by clicking any module. There’s also a time module, which can house a world clock and calendar events. In the version we tested, old events are hidden, but there are plans to merely dim them in an update. The bottom line. If you’ve used iStat Menus before, the…

Doing 30-plus laps while meticulously avoiding collisions and penalties won’t appeal to most, but F1 2012 is meant for those interested in a tiny taste of what it’s like to drive the most extreme vehicles on earth. The game requires patience, precision, and a steady hand to win, but still manages to be a good entry point for players new to the racing-simulation genre. F1 2012’s Young Driver Test is a well-integrated tutorial that eases new players into the action, however, penalties are left unexplained, which is sure to mystify people unfamiliar with Formula One. Career Mode is the game’s centerpiece, pitting you against rival drivers and teams. The initial goal isn’t to take first place, but to build your reputation, get signed to a major team, and then make…

DOUBLE TROUBLE I just downloaded iTunes 11 and was wondering if there’s a way to clean up duplicates. I have hundreds of duplicate AAC and MP3 files of the same songs. Can I clean it up with iTunes, or do I need a third-party tool? iTunes allows for the removal of duplicates without the need for external third-party applications; however, many third-party tools like Dupin and iDupe have better (and automatic) options for removing duplicate media from iTunes. iTunes’ Duplicate search is simple, but will find all of the duplicate items in your library. To use it, simply open one of your libraries (Music, Movies, TV shows, etc.) and then click View > Show Duplicate Items. The iTunes view will change to showing only items in the library that have…

One reason many people are seduced by Macs is the idea that they “just work.” Of course, that’s not entirely accurate—if it was, no Mac owner would ever find themselves sitting there, wideeyed, yelling, “Why won’t you do what I want you to?” while their Mac goes into some kind of digital meltdown. For the most part, though, Macs do at least do their jobs admirably well when compared to their PC cousins. And, really, that difference between PC and Mac is almost the same as how a number of people feel on making any kind of shift from Mac to iOS. There’s something about iOS devices that feels very safe, secure, and sturdy. Perhaps it’s the hardware’s streamlined design and the materials used—solid metal and glass. Perhaps it’s the…

April 3 will mark the three-year anniversary of the launch of the first iPad, a truly transformative moment in consumer technology. Since then, however, we’ve seen three new iPhones, five new iPods, two new Apple TVs, four more iPads, and a long list of new Macs—without a single wholly new product in the mix. Now, I’ve argued in this space before that we need to accept more evolution than revolution from Apple—that it would be unrealistic to expect them to constantly reinvent the wheel—but it’s also true that, every so often, a technology leader has to step out on a limb and shake things up. It’s time for Apple to take a risk. In the constantly changing worlds of technology and popular culture, three years feels like several lifetimes. And…

For veteran Apple fans, Macworld/iWorld 2013 was a little bit like visiting your old elementary school. You know, how everything just seems kind of small, and you wonder if you grew or if it shrank, and the answer might be a little bit of both. Apple may not need a once-a-year convergence of fans like this—that’s obvious when you notice how crowded every single Apple Store is from opening until closing. But Macworld was crowded too, and for companies of all sizes in the accessories space, and especially for app developers, the show is a really fun chance to get eyes on your product and show the enthusiast iFans just how excited you are to be part of the community. The programming was top-notch this year, too. Celebrity panels included…

Two different technologies with similar names—802.11ac and 802.11ad—are about to transform your wireless world. Geekitudinous readers will recognize that the 802.11 in those terms relates to Wi-Fi, but to explain the significance of the letters trailing those numbers, I need to feed you some alphabet soup. It may not be delicious, but it’s nutritious. Trust me. Today’s Macs and iOS devices list 802.11a, b, g, and n as their Wi-Fi specs. Among those, n is the most recent, released in late 2009. It’s backward-compatible with a, b, and g, and increases performance in part by supporting what’s called MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) wireless streaming of up to four channels at one time. Unfortunately, although you might be able to get speeds of around 450Mbps if your 802.11n wireless device and access…

Apple’s machines are like fine-tuned sports cars: high-performance, high-quality components wrapped in an eye-catching package that’s utterly fun to drive. They’ll last for years, but you might want to steer clear of the showroom in the meantime, because the new models will tempt you even when your trusty steed still has plenty of miles to go. Lucky for us, we get to test-drive each new Mac, and the last few months of 2012 saw big steps taken in the lineup of desktop Macs, reviewed here. While we’re still waiting to see what’s going to happen with the Mac Pro this year, the new iMacs and Mac mini are plenty capable—and they complicate the question of which Mac you should buy. Most people assume that a laptop is the answer. Apple…

We’ve seen so many slick and beautifully manicured iPhone apps over the years that it’s rare to be wowed by a newcomer. However, Vine does just that when you first pop it open, immediately launching a brief shared video clip without hesitation. And it doesn’t stop as you scroll down the feed, with each subsequent clip loading quickly and without prompt, giving you a very small window into the life of whoever was on the other side of that iPhone. Instagram is clearly the inspiration for this Twitter-created affair, what with its square frames and similar feed design, but Vine fills a void in your digital life that still photos simply cannot replicate. Limitations keep Vine both effective and accessible, as clips can only span a total of six seconds,…

Instantly familiar in design to anyone who’s used Instagram or Path, Digisocial is a new mobile social network that adds the ability to send and receive HD-quality voice messages, and even record audio to accompany uploaded images. It’s a clever idea that mostly works as promised, though we can’t help but think Digisocial is just one announcement away from obsolescence, should an existing rival decide to incorporate the same concept. Digisocial is quite entertaining the first few times you use it, but comes with some maddening UI inconsistencies, not to mention privacy issues. Photos are currently available for all to see, which is enough to keep us (and surely many others) from posting more for now. The bottom line. Enhancing photo memories with sound is fun, but Digisocial plays too…

Joe Danger was a pleasant surprise when it premiered on home console systems, but the series’ latest iteration—and first on iOS—Joe Danger Touch, manages to ride wheel-to-wheel with its predecessors, creating a new experience ideally suited for the platform. At its core, Joe Danger Touch is an auto-runner platform game, with taps and swipes used to lead Joe through 50 increasingly difficult, obstacle-laden tracks. But despite the obvious challenges inherent in handing off the controller, Hello Games has done a remarkable job of utilizing the touchscreen to make the transition seamless. The intuitive controls and gorgeous visuals of Joe Danger Touch are competent enough to make you forget you’re playing on an iOS device at all. That’s no small task. Where other console-to-mobile ports like Grand Theft Auto III cause…

From the same studio behind Cut the Rope comes Pudding Monsters, a cute puzzler with a similar aesthetic and trial-and-error approach to gameplay, albeit with gelatinous blobs as the star of this show. You’ll swipe the monsters around each stage until they create one big, collaborative beast, preferably while covering up as many of the onscreen stars as possible. Initially, that means finding the right pattern for piecing them all together without losing any in the process. However, Pudding Monsters quickly flits between various added twists—like frozen monsters and machines that generate additional blobs—without maximizing the strategic potential of each. As such, it’s lacking both challenge and an obsessive pull like that of the studio’s better-known effort. The bottom line. Pudding Monsters is enjoyable, but light and fluffy—much like the…

Of all the elaborate app-based gadgets we’ve seen, the Hue Personal Wireless Lighting system by Philips is the most extravagant, yet also perhaps the most enticing. Priced at $200 for the starter kit and solely available via the Apple Store, Hue lets you light up your home with LED bulbs that you can command from afar using the free universal iOS app, tapping into nearly any color in the rainbow. It really is jaw-dropping to tap your first preset in the Hue app and see the inauspicious white bulbs change to boldly colored tones, quickly transforming the look and feel of the room. But the app offers much more fine-tuned tweaking, letting you pick colors for individual bulbs, snap or use a photo as a reference for color schemes, adjust…

Let me tell you, back in the day, when we bought an effects pedal, by golly, if it was a distortion pedal, it stayed a distortion pedal. These two newfangled pedals can be reprogrammed to just about any effect you desire. (Without even needing to trudge through the snow, uphill, both ways.) The Digitech iStomp is clearly the better of the two. It’s also remarkably easy to use. Plug the included cable into your iOS device, open up the free Stomp Shop app, and load one of the over 40 effects. Presto, you’ve got a new effects pedal. Every time you load a new effect, it flashes the memory of the device with the new effect. You can adjust the effect with four physical buttons on the pedal, just like…

Several attempts have been made to design a tiny keyboard for laptop-toting musicians. Generally, the results haven’t proven all that impressive: either the unit boasts too few keys, or the keys are too small for comfortable playing, or both. The iRig Keys aims to combat the former (and more musically compromising) complaint by shoehorning in three full octaves worth of keys, one more than the two-octave standard for this general form factor. As a result, of course, the unit ends up considerably larger than its most direct competitor; at about 20 inches long it’s small enough to fit in some backpacks and maybe large messenger bags, but only just. But the iRig packs in one feature no competitor can boast: a 30-pin connector that allows it to plug directly into…

iPad stands come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, materials, and prices, as you can see with these two. They both work in roughly the same way, but while Element Case goes for luxury, Onanoff’s Dock Minimal aims for versatility at a much lower price. Each stand features a cradle for your iPad, holding it in landscape or portrait, while a kickstand on the back of the cradle adjusts to several viewing angles. Each of the six holes on the back of the Dock Minimal holds the kickstand at a different angle, and you can get more angles from placing the stand vertically on the table, although not every kickstand hole supports the stand that way. A snap-off piece lets you install a 30-pin or Lightning cable, if you…

While some recoil at the thought, bugs and insects are just plain interesting—there’s something undeniably cool about our more-than-four-legged friends. And while you may not readily admit to owning a Starship Troopers DVD (or its priced-to-own sequels), maybe your ears always perked up a bit when the subject of insects came about in high school biology class. So you might be tempted by the i-Robot Beetle, a small, detailed, cockroach-like robot (complete with antennae) that can be readily controlled from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Similar to assorted robot kits that you might find on the market, the Beetle moves about on six thin, plastic legs, can be recharged via a USB port, and features a nifty LED-lit, glowing abdomen that activates when turned on. The Beetle, once deployed,…

PaintSupreme advertises itself as a best-in-class photo-editing and image-creation tool that’s fast, stable, and easy to use. We can’t argue with stable—it never crashed in our testing. However, we don’t know if we’d agree with everything else. Applying basic adjustments and filters to full-resolution photos was fairly fast, even on a 5-yearold MacBook Pro. However, using the brush and pen tools on top of a 10-megapixel photo was painfully slow, as was working with layers and almost everything else in the application. PhotoSupreme also cheats a little by showing users a thumbnail preview of their photo adjustments, instead of previewing the adjustments right on the photo. At first glance, PaintSupreme is a simplified version of Photoshop. The layers palette and toolbars look familiar, and the image-creation tools are relatively intuitive.…

If you find yourself struggling to organize the way you use your social media accounts, going from long periods of silence to overwhelming your contacts with a torrent of comments, web links, and the like, then you need Buffer. It’s a scheduling service that works with Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to help you neatly space out your tweets, updates, and shared links. Buffer differs from other services in that you set up a schedule based on days of the week and specific times, then simply fill up those slots with posts, links, and other interesting content as you come across them, ensuring they’re delivered at specific times rather than in one quick rush. The free account we’re using here restricts you to three accounts and a maximum of 10 posts…

Spotlight is not only a great way to search for files in the abyss on your hard drive, it’s also a great tool for productivity. There are several hidden features that make Spotlight a power house for getting things done on your Mac. From mathematical calculations to launching apps, we’ll show you all of the tricks that make Spotlight so powerful. Do Math Spotlight is a pretty smart cookie. So smart, in fact, that it can do math without thinking. Give it a try. Simply launch spotlight and type in just about any arithmetic statement, and it’ll spit out the answer right before your eyes. For example, click the Spotlight button and type in this statement: (31+3)-(31*1). In the Calculator heading, the correct answer will appear. It is important to…

Love your magazine. I also love my 2010 MacBook Pro with the hi-res (1680x1050) 15-inch screen. There have been some improvements in the current version of the MacBook Pro, but I am not in a rush to buy it since I have no foreseeable interest in a Retina display, and I really don’t want to give up the Ethernet port. I’d like to buy a more up-to-date non-Retina model at some point, but I’m afraid that Apple will stop making them before I get the chance. Do you have any idea when that will be, so I can make sure to buy the pinnacle version of the non-Retina MacBook Pro before it goes away?—Mark Vorder-Bruegge, Jr. Only Apple employees with Roswell-level security status can say for sure when non-Retina MacBook…

Many customers view the banking industry as an unpopular but necessary evil—it’s not exactly practical to stuff cash under a mattress anymore, yet we still need some way to pay utilities, rent or mortgage, and other bills each month. Enter the iPhone: while most major banks now offer free mobile apps for checking your balance, online bill payment, and even depositing checks while on the go, they do little to circumvent getting nickel-and-dimed by the ever-increasing fees usually associated with such accounts. But the times, they are a-changin’, and such legacy brands as American Express are trying to become players in new mobile-first “alternative checking account” offerings as more customers ditch paper checks and begin embracing technology that better fits their lifestyle—and pocketbook. BANKING SHOULD BE SIMPLE One of the…

CHRONO TRIGGER $9.99, iPhone It’s hard to go wrong with one of the greatest console role-playing games of all time, and the iOS port is a fantastic excuse to play Chrono Trigger again—or, better yet, for the first time. Originally released in 1995, it looks a little dated next to flashier modern games—especially considering the iOS version lacks the animated cutscenes of re-releases on other platforms—but its time-traveling story and fast-paced gameplay stand the test of time beautifully, and they’re just as compelling now as they were 18 years ago. DJANGO $12.99 Django Unchained may be one of 2012’s best movies, but it’s also just the latest in a long line of films to appropriate the Django name. To find out what made that title so popular, check out the…

They say that everybody has a book in them. Perhaps you’ve even started writing your own novel or screenplay and given up through lack of time, interest, or organization. We urge you to get back to it. Times have changed, and with the rise of self-publishing combined with the popularity of ebook readers, tablets, and social media for word-of-mouth promotion, there’s never been a better time to test your writing skills. A NOVEL USE FOR YOUR MAC The most popular amateur writing outside of blogging has to be books, and it’s not just attempts at the next Harry Potter series, either. Programs such as iBooks Author and iPhoto’s Photo Books allow for guide books and journals to be designed and printed in a professional way. For standard literature, however, all…

Each month, the Mac|Life staff gives you a peek inside our iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches to show you the latest gems, oddities, and WTFs that we’ve uncovered in the App Store. Safeway Check to see if your grocer has an app! Safeway (free, iPhone) lets me load personalized deals to my Safeway Club Card, like $2 off my favorite loaf of bread. And i can start building my list by scrolling through the weekly specials and planning meals around what’s cheap or in season. Chip Chain Matching numbered poker chips to create higher-numbered poker chips isn’t the most complex premise for a game, but Chip Chain (free, universal) is deceptively tricky. It’s also addictive and oddly relaxing and endlessly playable, even if you don’t sink any real money into…

Upgrade Soul is an interactive, standalone graphic novel app that spotlights Hank and Molly Nonnar, an elderly couple who decide to undergo a highly experimental medical treatment—one that promises to rebuild their bodies and double their life spans. We see immediately in the included first chapter that something’s gone terribly awry, and additional volumes (sold within) intriguingly delve into who’s behind the mess and what secrets they’re hiding. While the story is paramount, part of Upgrade Soul’s appeal comes from its iOS-centric presentation, which includes lightly animated scenes and the sensation of onscreen elements existing in a 3D world when you tilt your device. An excellent and lightly interactive original score completes the digital-first aesthetic. The bottom line. Gripping science fiction and beautiful presentation designed for iOS devices make Upgrade…

If you grew up playing Final Fantasy in the ’90s, you’ve probably got a soft spot for at least one of the old-school entries in the venerable RPG series. Assuming that’s true, Square Enix’s latest iOS spin-off is aimed squarely at you. Don’t believe the hype. Rather than offering fun fan service, All the Bravest is little more than an insidious attempt to prey on nostalgia—and waste your time doing it. The premise behind Final Fantasy All the Bravest sounds interesting, to say the least. Take the series’ famous Active Time Battle turn-based combat, up the insanity quotient significantly, and watch the results as 30-something fighters join forces at a breakneck speed to beat the tar out of classic monsters and villains. There’s no story or towns, and hardly even…

Buying a used car can be a terrifying experience. From the high-pressure salespeople to the fine print at the end of the contract, it may be enough to make your head spin—and that’s before the engine starts making funny sounds on the way home. But your iOS device can make the process a whole lot less stressful, and maybe even help you get a great deal in the process. Before you step foot on the lot, you’ll want to do a fair amount of research. The worst thing you can do is walk into a car dealership cold, so your first stop in the App Store should be Edmunds Car Review & Pricing (free, universal), which will help you get an idea of what’s out there in your price range.…

It’s great being able to listen to music wherever you go, but it’s even better when you can ditch your headphones and play your music loud and proud using a portable AirPlay speaker. The AQ SmartSpeaker Portable is roughly cylindrical, with a tapering top that houses the power, Wi-Fi, and volume controls. At the back is an auxiliary input, plus a USB port to set up the speaker to use your Wi-Fi network. Not that you have to: Thanks to SmartSpeaker’s useful AQ Direct feature, you can connect your AirPlay device directly to the speaker on an ad-hoc basis, with no network needed. Unlike most AirPlay speakers, which have to be on the same network as your Mac or iOS device, you can stream music through AirPlay directly to the…

Appearances are deceiving in The Cave. What at first seems to be a whimsical spelunking adventure gradually becomes a surreal trip through the depths of the soul. Cute, large-headed stock characters hide dark, twisted secrets. And what might initially seem like a straightforward 2D puzzle-platformer is in fact a clever throwback to classic point-and-click adventures of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Of course, discovering all of that is a big part of what makes the game so irresistibly engaging. At the outset, you’ll be able to assemble a team of three explorers (whom you can switch between at any time) from a pool of seven. Most of the game’s puzzles require at least two of them to work together, carrying around items or manipulating the environment to let each…

The way we listen to music has changed dramatically over the last decade. The rise of the MP3 and shrinking costs of storage mean that for the vast majority of us, our music collections live on a hard drive somewhere, rather than in crates or on shelves. Trouble is, unlike the hi-fi systems of old, most computers aren’t purpose-built for playing music. In fact, most off-the-shelf laptops and desktops deliberately skimp in the sound department for the sake of price and compactness. Yes, Macs are something of an exception to this rule, boasting better stock sound hardware than most PCs. But we’re still talking about a computer designed to do many things well, versus a stereo system designed to do one thing excellently. As a result, when played through most…

If you think that customizing how your Mac behaves begins and ends with the System Preferences, you couldn’t be more wrong. Hundreds of other options are hidden away, for both the system itself and every application, accessible only via commands typed into the Terminal. MacPilot lets you tweak all of those options, giving you complete control over your Mac without forcing you to reach for the command line. Its friendly graphical interface includes options for all of Apple’s bundled apps, plus the Finder, as well as a wide range of common third-party software packages. Want to disable the Dashboard, so it no longer shows? Instead of typing defaults delete com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled, you simply select it as an option in MacPilot, change your default…and goodbye, Dashboard. MacPilot includes the ability to…

It’s difficult being a delivery-truck driver, particularly when the directions to your destination require a path that’s not on any map, and the people you encounter along the way only seem interested in twisting you up in their own winding affairs. That’s the case in the first act of Kentucky Route Zero, an offbeat and alluringly atmospheric five-part episodic adventure that finds its lead, Conway, out in search of a mystical highway. However, the path he actually takes through the episode is not on the titular Route Zero, but rather through a series of conversations with the odd locals. While most point-and-click adventure games get bogged down with tedious and oft-obtuse puzzles, Kentucky Route Zero is more concerned with building narrative and ambiance alike through dialogue. As Conway, you can…

If Jony Ive designed a Bluetooth speaker, it might look like this. Then again, if Jony Ive designed a soup can, it might look like this. The HiddenRadio blends into its surroundings, with no visible buttons or controls. You twist it on its sturdy base to reveal the speaker, and control the volume the same way: more speaker showing means louder music, and you just twist it all the way closed to turn it off. It connects via Bluetooth 2.1 or a hidden aux-in jack, and we got the best results leaving the audio device at around 80 percent volume, and then fine-adjusting by twisting the HiddenRadio. It gets loud, filling a room better than other portable Bluetooth speakers we’ve tested, but some types of music sounded better than others…

iTunes 11 isn’t just about a new, clean look. It’s more tightly integrated with your iTunes Store account, and puts your previous purchases from the store only a few clicks away. This is especially helpful if you’ve got limited storage, although sometimes you might want to see only the music that’s available without an Internet connection. The search bar is a vital feature of iTunes, and its behavior has been changed. It shows matching items in an elegant, pop-up list, but search terms that worked fine in iTunes 10 might yield no results at all. That’s because Apple has altered how finely iTunes searches the library when you start typing. But it hasn’t removed the old method altogether, and it’s easy to get the results you expect. The quirks of…

In case you missed the news, Apple released a new 128GB version of its iPad with Retina display in early February. It has the same 9.7-inch screen, HD camera, and A6X chip as other currently available fourth-generation iPads—in fact, the only difference is the extra storage capacity. But do you really need 128 gigs (about 125 gigs of usable space, according to an Apple rep) on an iPad? Here are some users who could probably benefit. Professionals The iPad is rapidly becoming an alternative to the laptop, and if you use your iPad for work, 128GB can be a huge help for editing film, laying down music tracks, designing with 3D CAD, or doing other data-intensive tasks. Movie Buffs High-definition movies can eat up space pretty quickly. If you’re a…