iPhone 5 Prototype Hands-On: Fake or Real?
(via macrumors) Business Insider now reports that it has received word from a source who has claimed to have had access to an iPhone 5 prototype and offered some details on the device. We've been told this by an industry source who has been right about future Apple products in the past.
It has not been verified yet, but there are some leaked details, which are of course just rumors:
- 4-inch screen
- Aluminum back
- Capacitive home button
- "Flatter" form factor
- Much faster than current hardware, but poor battery life
- 10-megapixel rear camera
- Siri prototype known as "Assistant", which had been the rumored name for the feature until its introduction
There are quite some good deals on the Apple iPhone 4S on ebay, an introduction of the iPhone 5 would let the price of the "older" models drop significantly (talking about the Osborne Effect)
Apple MacBook Pro Firmware Update to Fix Unexpected Shutdown Issue
Apple has released MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.5: it fixes an issue where the machine would shut off unexpectedly under heavy processor load, even when plugged in. As I actually had some issues before, this update is very welcome.
Affected Models: Macbook Pro models 8,1, 8,2, and 8,3. These include both MacBook Pro (Early 2011) and Macbook Pro
(Late 2011).
This update resolves an issue where a MacBook Pro being used with a power adapter may unexpectedly shut down under heavy workload if the battery charge level is near empty.
Your computer's power cord must be connected and plugged into a working power source, or your battery must be at least 25% charged.
When your computer restarts a gray screen will appear with a status bar to indicate the progress of the update.
Your computer's fans will run at full speed during the update but will return to normal speed once the update completes.
Do not disturb or shut off the power on your computer during this update.
The MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.5 can be downloaded from Apple's support website.
Panasonic GH2 Driftwood/Vitaly Patches 176Mbps AVCHD Intra up to 244Mbps Intra: A poor man’s RED?
Video: Tsawout Spit – Gh2 Test (driftwood 176mb gop1 hack) from mark wyatt on Vimeo.
There seems to be no day without any surprises with the Panasonic GH2. The latest hot-shit is a hack to get 176Mbps AVCHD Intra up and running on the camera. Right now there's no possibility to record in 25p but there are attempts by vitaly and others, so let's see what the future holds.
What is AVCHD Intra?
"AVCHD Intra is usually recorded to extremely expensive P2 cards on high end cameras and here it is on a consumer camera with an SD card. [...] This is a codec that uses i-frames only unlike consumer AVCHD. Every frame from the sensor is stored. Standard AVCHD is a Long-GOP compression format and works by estimating and guessing at frames in-between ‘real’ images but Intra doesn’t. [...] AVCHD Intra is very good for heavy colour grading, fast action, hand held footage and green screen VFX work. You certainly get a better result from AVCHD Intra on the GH2 than by outputting from any DSLR’s HDMI feed to a external recorder as well." (via eosHD)
How does it compare?
eosHD has a comparison on AVCHD intra 100Mbps vs 24Mbit AVCHD.
And if that's not enough: there is even a 244Mbps AVCHD Intra Hack, as outlined by Driftwood: "It's stable and with good lighting conditions can look amazing."
eosHD recommends: "AVCHD Intra at such high bitrates can be tricky to edit so I recommend transcoding it to ProRes 4-4-4 first."
Fuji high end mirrorless system will be uber-large, higher than full-frame!

Fuji will make a mirrorless system with an ueber-large sensor that will deliver an image quality higher as any full frame system. The resolution and Signal-to-Noise ratio will top all current full frame sensors.
Fuji president and CEO Shigetaka Komori said they will create a mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera built around a larger sensor with ‘resolution and low noise [that] will surpass the 35mm full size sensor’. If Canon does not come up with the EOS 5D MKIII fast, people will start to switch.
(via DC.watch)
New Apple iPhone 4S – mainly lens improvements, but: great optics indeed! (plus: Siri A.I.)
Everyone's talking about the new iPhone 4S that was announced by Apple recently. But is there more to it than improved optics? Even if not, the camera is a huge improvement over the previous model: 1080p video recording, 8 Megapixel photo sensor, f/2.4 aperture.
Behind all the updates, the most interesting is HSDPA support. In countries such as Austria or Japan, where HSDPA is widespread, this is a very welcome hardware upgrade. Still, why is there no HSPA+ support? In cities with a weak broadband coverage (everything above a few MB upstream) - such as Vienna, this is really akward. We still have to fall back to the Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100, which offers HSPA+ among other great features. So the "only" killer feature of the Apple iPhone 4S remains the greatly improved Camera - which is to question, concerning the price of such a gadget. An Amazon Search for the iPhone 4S yields no results, obviously, since the device is said to be available from mid October.
Our recommendations: wait for the iPhone 5 and get some real gear instead.
1) Get a Canon PowerShot S100 for Photo and Video
2) Get a SONIM XP5300 3G FORCE if you need a phone that actually works.
Ableton Live 8.2.5 fixes Apple Mac OSX 10.7 Lion compatibility
Live 8.2.5, the latest version of Live 8, is currently available. This update includes full compatibility with Max OS X 10.7 Lion, improved synchronization with external MIDI devices, and other improvements and fixes. The update is free to all users of Ableton Live Lite 8, Live Intro, Live 8, and Suite 8.
Currently, Ableton Live 8 is $499.00 (new) and $425.00 (used).
Apple Releases OS X 10.7.1 with Fixes for Video in Safari, Audio Out, Wi-Fi and More
Apple released Mac OSX Lion 10.7.1 updates today, with the following release notes:
The 10.7.1 update is recommended for all users running OS X Lion and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability and compatibility of your Mac, including fixes that:
- Address an issue that may cause the system to become unresponsive when playing a video in Safari
- Resolve an issue that may cause system audio to stop working when using HDMI or optical audio out
- Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections
- Resolve an issue that prevents transfer of your data, settings, and compatible applications to a new Mac running OS X Lion
For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4764.
There is not much fixed, at least not for the reported issues such as SSD TRIM support for non-apple SSDs and the well known flash issues.
Still, Seems more stable. There is a seperate update for 10.7.1 Server and another update specific to the latest MacBook Air and Mac mini models, adding a few additional fixes. (via macrumors)
Mac OSX 10.7 Lion updating annoyances: Scolling, Versioning and no TRIM!
While Apple's 10.7 Lion OS looks much more like GNOME like any other previous version of OSX, is comes with lots of annoyances. People using an SSD drive might have to update, since it finally supports the TRIM command, there are also lots of annoying features you might want to get rid of:
1) No TRIM support out of the box if you are using your own SSD (not Apple's)

This is ridicolous: TRIM only seems to work for Apple buit-in SSDs. There is a tool by groths.org that will do the trick: TRIM Enabler, which works for Lion and for Snow Leopard as well. You might want to consider enabling this feature, since TRIM will make your Solid State Drive last longer, due to less writes to the cells.
2) Mouse scrolling direction got reversed: how to revert
Apple decided to reverse the mouse scolling on 10.7 Lion, meaning you have to scroll your mousewheel up to actually move the on-screen content down. Here is a screenshot from System Preferences, where you can change that "feature" to the way it was before: simply uncheck the box left to "Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating".

3) Disabling the "Resume" feature
The "Resume" Feature in Mac OS X Lion restores the state of the application windows, when re-opening an application. Since I definitely do not need this feature, here is a way to turn it off: just uncheck the left box next to "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" in System Preferences -> General

4) Disabling "Versions" feature in Mac OSX 10.7 Lion
Versions should't be a problem unless you are using Time Machine. MacRumors has a forum post on disabling that features.
5) Other (small) annoyances
Google Chrome does not get moved with an update ( Chrome vanishes with Lion 10.7 Update)
This is also very strange: the Google Chrome Browser did not get moved on my Lion update. I had to re-download Google Chrome.app. At least the Application Support files got moved, so I did not lose any browsing history or bookmarks.
Dropbox needs to be reinstalled: special Lion build
The dropbox right-click features dissappear when updating to Lion. Download the Latest Forum Build of Dropbox that is Lion compatible (1.2.16 at the time of writing this entry)
Other interesting reviews about Mac OSX 10.7 Lion can be found here:
* Time Magazine on OSX Lion: "With OS X Lion, Apple's Macs Enter the iPad Era"
* Engadget: "Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review"
Install Mac OS X Lion 10.7 on PC Hackintosh
Its now possible to Install Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on your PC with the standard Hackintosh techniques. That means, everything stays the same to get your hackintosh up and running, no worries. More information on the geeknizer blog entry or alternatively, watch the video below:
Steps to install OSX Lion:
1. Get the "GM" (Golden Master) of Lion via torrent
2. Get an EFI Boot Loader
3. Get a decent 8GB USB thumb drive and install the Golden Master on there.
4. Install using iBoot.
You can get detailed information on installing Mac OSX Lion 10.7 by reading the geeknizer blog howto.
[UPDATE] tonymacx86 showed how to Install OS X 10.7 Lion on any Supported Intel Core 2 or Core i based PC with xMove + MultiBeast. Furthermore, there is a Mac OSX Lion v10.7.2-HOTiSO that should also boot from any PC. Don't forget that you need to buy Apple Mac OS X Lion from the App Store to legally use it.
MacBook Pro Early 2011 freezes and kernel panics: revert to 32bit to have a stable system
As we already blogged some time ago, we had severe overheating issues and frequent kernel panics with our early 2011 models of the MacBook Pro Core-i7 quad. Still, after the updates there are crashes from time to time - the early 2011 models are far away from being stable machines to use for serious work.
After days of trying to figure out what is really the issue, we found that most of the times device drivers or other third party apps are mostly causing the crashes - but also CPU-intensive apps such as games sometimes bring the system down. Solution? Yes, there is one: change your system to a 32bit Kernel.
1) The bootup way (temporary solution, great for testing)
If you just want to test if changing to 32bit changes anything, you can reboot your mac and hold down the "3" and "2" keys as soon as you hit the power button. This boots up your Apple in 32bit mode temporarily. If the system
2) The Terminal Way (see the Apple Support Document for more information)
sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture i386
if you need to change your system back to normal for any case, you can enter the following command into Terminal.app:
sudo systemsetup -setkernelbootarchitecture x86_64
Just to make it clear: your applications will still run in 64bit mode, you can make sure this is the case by hitting cmd+i on the application icon and see if "Open in 32-bit mode" is checked. See this article from simplehelp with details and images on 32-bit mode. So why should I care then, you might ask: since drivers and 3rd party apps and extensions that are loaded on startup are most of the time the issue with system freezes and hangs, changing to a 32bit kernel did the trick for us and now we have a stable 2011 MBP quad-core system.
[UPDATE] 10.6.8 seems to work with 64bit kernel much more stable than 10.6.7. Still, to be on the safe side we are using the 32bit kernel and had no freezes yet.
Ableton Live 8.2.2 MaxForLive improvements + optimizations and bugfixes
Ableton Live was recently updated to version 8.2.2. The update is a huge step forward for the "Max for Live" API, which gets added support for Rack-Devices (Devices inside Racks can now be accessed via the Max for Live API) and Return Tracks (Return tracks can now be observed via the Max for Live API). This is a recommended update for every Ableton user, especially when using max4live. The latest max/msp (Max 5.1.8) requires Ableton Live 8.2.2 to work.
The release notes according to Ableton:
Apple MacBook Pro Quad Core (early 2011) i7: fast powerhorse with design flaws and hardware issues
While the new Apple MacBook Pro Machines are really fast desktop-like speed packed monsters, it seems like they also have severe hardware design faults as outlined by zdnet and ifixit. With a geekbench score over 10.000 the new MacBook Pro (early 2011) beats the Mac Pro (Early 2009) Intel Xeon W5590 3.33 GHz (4 cores). All the good talk and benchmarks cannot make up for the current problems Apple users are facing with their brand new machines:
- too much thermal paste seems to raise the CPU temperature
- fans running at 6000rpm+ constantly
- frequent kernel panics or freezes that are maybe related to the new GPU
- heating issues with the whole MBP early 2011 series
Come on Apple, wake up and fix those machine fast, as lots of us could benefit from a stable quad-core laptop solution (talking audio plugs and realtime audio performance).
We can recommend to tell apple to send the replacements before they pick up the faulty machines, so it is easier to transfer the data already on it. (apple care even suggested it this way)
[UPDATE] Gregg Keizer from Computerworld also writes about quality concerns regarding the new Apple Notebooks and there is also a discussion about actual "Overheating" going on in the Apple Forums. Well, I can confirm the issue exists and the current MacBook Pro Models freeze a lot. If it is a hardware, software or firmware issue remains unclear.
[UPDATE] There is a macrumors forum thread discussing that there were issues with the 2010 MBPs as well when they came out. Another thread at macrumors forum tries to sort out if it is a hardware or software issue.
Some people suspect it is related to internal graphics switching, but there really seems to be something going on since also reports on the apple discussion forums are increasing.
[UPDATE] as of 2011/03/14 macrumors suggest in their forum to "go 2010 or wait for ivy bridge". The early 2011 version of the MacBook Pro das 45W TDP vs. last generation's 35w. That's a big increase which automatically makes the whole series go louder and more hot than the 2010 model.
[UPDATE] 2011/03/21: Macrumors posted a story: "2011 MacBook Pros Crashing Under Load?"
[UPDATE] 2011/03/21: Mac OSX 10.6.7 Update was just announced by Apple. Unfortunately, on the two machines we have here, the update does not fix anything related to CPU temperature. Still there are frequent freezes as well.
[UPDATE] 2011/03/22: dailytech confirms that New MacBook Pros Freezing When Stressed, Update Adds More Problems
[UPDATE] 2011/03/28: we received our two replacement MacBook Pros. They don't seem to have any issues and also still did not freeze on us! Also the fans are not spinning like crazy anymore! For all people affected by any of the issues reported above: get your Notebooks replaced! Apple is aware of the issues and replaces faulty hardware (we had to wait for two weeks though).
[UPDATE] 2011/04/23: the current Systems freeze 2-3 times a day. Not all the issues seem to be solved! You should definitely get a late 2010 model, if you need a highly stable system!
[UPDATE] 2011/11/01: Apple replaced one of our 15-inch MBP MC721LL/A machine and the freezes are not appearing anymore. Reports from other users that bought an early 2011 model are positive, so currently the advice would be to get a refurbished Apple MacBook Pro MC721LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop even before getting a MD318LL/A 15.4-Inch (late 2011) version, not only because of saving some bucks, but also since the Apple MacBook Pro early 2011 performs better in most of the situations compared to the late 2011 version.
Besides the heating issues, there are also reported "intermittent flickering, brief blackouts and other periodic but noticeable flaws" reported in the Apple Discussion Forums. We are getting replacement Machines - let's see if there is any improvement after the first round of shipping!
Only in June: Native Instruments Kore, Komplete, Traktor, Audio DJ, etc. huge savings!
via native-instruments.com: 300$ Rebate when buying Kore 2 together with NI Komplete 6 and 50% off all updates and upgrades!
The Offers in Detail:
- Kore 2 + Komplete 6 for 699€
- Komplete 6 Update from any previous version: 74,50€
- Kontakt 4 Update 64,50€
- Traktor Scratch Pro Update , FM8 or Absynth 4 Update from 34,50€
- Guitar Rig Update for 34,50€
- Free Traktor Pro with Audio DJ 8 Soundcard (Free Traktor Duo with Audio DJ 2 or Audio DJ 4)
- Kore 2 Update or Battery 3 Update from 49,50€
- Reaktor 5 Update from 59,50€
I got myself a Kore2+Komplete, an Audio 8 DJ Soundcard and a Traktor Scratch Pro Update. Since I already own Komplete 6, i am selling it (as well as Traktor Pro and tons of other gear) on the Audio Sellout list.
Ableton Live 8.1.1 Bugfix Release
Ableton Live 8.1.1 was released to the public, with a lot of bugfixes, stabilizing the quite unstable 8.1 release that was introduced maybe too fast because of max for live. Live Lite and Live Intro are not yet supported with Live 8.1.1
Note: "If you own Suite and have already installed Suite 8.1, then you can download the Live 8.1.1 installer which has a smaller download size." See a list of all the Changes in the details of this entry.
Max/Msp for Live with Ableton Live 8.1 Final REVIEW (max for live)
This is a review of „max for live“ using Ableton Live 8.1 FINAL and max/msp 5.1 on a Mac OSX 10.5.8 Core2Duo Intel MacBook Pro. As I am a frequent user of all kinds of visual DSP systems for quite a while now: pure data (PD), max/msp, vvvv, nord modular OS, etc. - so I am quite dazzled what max for live has to offer. (Read the full Entry to see the Review)

Instruments, Audio Effects, Midi Effects - but of course, this is not all of the cake. Imagine you can create user-interface elements however you please and also assign MIDI to that interface parts. This brings Ableton Live huge steps forward: the possibility to extend ableton to include a full featured audiovisual prototyping environment and to interface with the world: be it sensors, webservices or other Ableton Live installations.
Beta: Ableton Live 8.1 with Max/Msp for Live
How cool is that? registered users of Ableton Live and Max/Msp can sign up for the beta program of Max for Live (it's actually only a click, much different from Google Wave ;)
The only problem is: you need to own Ableton Live and Cycling74's Max/Msp 5 (which i actually do).
For now you can watch the Video from the Ableton Site, until i can post some hands-on-pictures and a full review (to be available in the next days).
Ableton Live 8.0.9 Update (minor)
Ableton Live was updated to version 8.0.9. Read the Changes from Live 8.0.8 to Live 8.0.9 below or find the previous ChangeLogs in the Ableton Forums. This is a minor Bugfix release, that deals with the Axiom Pro and the Oxygen 3rd generation controllers; small Bugs regarding the Sampler and Volume automation were also squashed, but not much more.
Able10 – 10 years of Ableton: Giveaways and a final release date for Max for Live
"2009 marks Ableton's 10th anniversary, so let's raise a glass: thank you to all of you who've joined the journey so far and here's to ten more years of ideas, innovation, hard work and staggering, beautiful music. We're celebrating with a host of special offers, new products and giveaways. We've got something for everyone, so join the party at: http://www.ableton.com/nl452-able10"
Most of all, 20% off Live 8 and Upgrades, some users even get free Upgrades, and 10 Free Downloadable Live Packs from Various Artists. Sadly for Ableton Suite owners there is no special discount or goodie - but for people owning Live 8 or 7 - or even the Lite versions - now it's a good time to Upgrade! The release for Max for Live was set on the 23rd November 2009 and a new stripped-down Ableton for starters is ready: Live Intro.
Ableton Live 8.0.8 Update
Ableton Live was updated to version 8.0.8. Read the Changes from Live 8.0.5 to Live 8.0.8 below or find the previous ChangeLogs in the Ableton Forums. While the update mainly adds the support for the new Novation Launchpad Controller and improves support for the AxiomPro Controllers, some important bugfixes have been implemented. Live should work on Snow Leopard now (crashed or froze when running another Audio app before, e.g. iTunes). Other Bugfixes are adressing the Arranger and some small bugs regarding Loop points. An update is recommended for all Ableton Live users.
Native Instruments Komplete 6

Native Instruments Komplete 6
Native Instruments Komplete 6 was announced some days ago. As a proud owner of Komplete 5 i am looking forward for the update. The previous Komplete Version was a total bargain for me, since i got it within the Kompletely INSANE Sale for just 399€. Since the new Komplete will be €499, it is even cheaper for people to get the new version as to upgrade from version 5. (damn, I should have waited. but who cares, I love my FM8)
Key features of NI Komplete 6 are: Kontakt 4, Absynth 5 and Guitar Rig 4 Pro. (See the Native Instruments Page on Komplete 6 for all news regarding version 6). I will post an in-depth review when i received my update.






