Índex per April 2013 a Macworld

Some tech pundits ask, on occasion: Is Apple doomed? The answer right now is most certainly not. In fact, the better question to ask is: Can Apple ever really be doomed again? What Is Doomed? First, the history: What do writers mean when they suggest Apple is doomed? In June 1997, when Wired magazine’s cover showed the Apple logo with the tagline “Pray,” there was at least a reasonable argument to be made about Apple’s long-term viability: It was struggling with a messy product line, numerous ill-fated products, seemingly unstoppable competition from Microsoft, and more. Recall that 1997 was the year Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple’s growth—money Apple seriously needed. That situation—needing a relatively small influx of cash from a serious competitor to stay afloat—does sort of have “doomed”…

Both iOS devices and Macs seem to be impervious to the discount game. In fact it’s so rare to find a significant price variance between retailers that such events usually attract press coverage. House Advantage To pull off this unusual feat, Apple uses a strategy called price maintenance. Most products move from manufacturers to retailers through a network of distributors. Each product has a “manufacturer suggested retail price” (MSRP), but each retailer is free to set its own sale price. Thus, a laptop with an MSRP of $500 might cost the retailer $250 to buy, and might carry a sticker price of $350, with a “30% Off!” announced discount. The price variability is possible because of the difference (often from 30 to 55 percent) between the wholesale price that the…

Lego Mindstorms EV3 Like previous Lego Mindstorms kits, the EV3 has as its keystone a programmable brick that serves as the brains of your creations. The EV3 Intelligent Brick includes such new features as an infrared sensor, Bluetooth, Linux-based firmware, a USB port, and an SD Card slot. The programming software kit works on the Mac, and you can use your iPhone to control your Mindstorms EV3 creations remotely. Also new in this latest Mindstorms kit are 3D building instructions that you’ll be able to view on your tablet. If you want a Mindstorms EV3 kit, you’ll have to wait a little bit: It won’t come out until the second half of this year, and it will cost $349 (www.legoeducation.us).—NICK MEDIATI Napkin This $40 app lets you mark up images…

If the words unlimited, iPhone, and no contract are a few of your favorite things, then Straight Talk Wireless is ready to make your day. The carrier is offering the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 on its $45-per-month unlimited plan. For that $45, you get unlimited voice, texting, and data—but with some trade-offs. You’ll be buying the iPhone unlocked, which means unsubsidized. Also your choice of models is limited: The iPhone 5 is available only in 16GB—in white or black—for $649, while the 8GB iPhone 4, also in white or black, costs $449 (sorry, no iPhone 4S). Straight Talk is also offering an unlimited plan with unlimited international calling for $60 a month. Additionally, the plan is available only through Walmart. However, the retail giant wants to sell you an…

Old Maps Anew In this Google Maps era, you wouldn’t think that an old-fashioned offering like the $2 National Geographic World Atlas for iPhone and iPad (go.macworld.com/ngworldatlas) would retain its appeal. But the app relays its information with beauty and precision. The redesigned version 3.0 offers updated country and weather data across the globe. The Fantasy Continues Hard to believe, but the Final Fantasy franchise—which debuted in 1991—is now old enough to drink. Somehow, it’s never actually the “Final” Fantasy, though. Final Fantasy IV (go.macworld.com/finalfantasy) is, well, finally available on iOS, as a $16 game for both iPhone and iPad. This version includes new 3D graphics, as well as Game Center support.—JOEL MATHIS Snazzy Travel Snaps If you take the trips plotted out in the National Geographic app, the free…

Two years ago, in our April 2011 issue, we ran an article called “100 Things Every Mac User Should Know.” The idea was to compile a bunch of tidbits—keyboard shortcuts, Finder techniques, and the like—that we thought every savvy Mac user should understand and feel confident when using. Not ABC beginner stuff, and not truly esoteric expert-level maneuvers, but the kinds of things that mark you as experienced and informed. Of course, there are a lot more than 100 such things. So we decided to revisit the idea, coming up with another hundred pieces of Mac-related information we think users should have at their command. So, yes, you now have 200 things you need to know. As we said back in 2011: We’re sure you know a lot of the…

12 One way to sort files in Finder windows is to select View → Arrange By, followed by a find criterion (‘Name’, ‘Kind’, ‘Date Added’, or whatever). Your system will use that criterion to sort files and folders in the parent folder you’re viewing. Later, when you add new files to the folder, they’ll appear properly in the file hierarchy. For less long-lasting results, hold down the <Option> key while opening the View menu, and Arrange By will become Sort By. Select that, and it will sort all files that are currently in the folder in the specified order. But this method won’t continue to apply the sort criterion to new files; instead, such files will be placed haphazardly, regardless of name, kind, and so on. To bring later additions…

If you want to show someone what’s on your screen (perhaps in order to give or receive technical support), there are many ways to capture an image that shows all or part of your screen, for sharing with others. Here are five practical methods for grabbing a screenshot. 22 Full screen To capture an image of your entire screen, simply press command-<Shift>-3. 23 Selected area To capture a selected area of the screen, press command-<Shift>-4, and then drag the rectangular marquee around the area that you want to include in the screenshot. 24 Window or object To capture a window, a menu, an icon, or any other on-screen object (along with its drop shadow, if there is one), press command-<Shift>-4, press the spacebar, and then click the object that you…

When you get a new Mac, you may want to transfer some of the apps and data from your old Mac, but leave behind all the useless cruft and clutter. Unfortunately, you have no clean way to transfer only the specific applications and data you want while still guaranteeing that all necessary components and files are preserved. That’s because many OS X apps are not self-contained. Instead, they store pieces in a variety of folders—and sometimes these pieces are invisible or have hard-to-identify names. 30 Use Migration Assistant The easiest and most reliable way to move stuff to your new Mac is to connect the two Macs with a FireWire or ethernet cable and use Migration Assistant. You’ll find this utility located in/Applications/Utilities; it’s built into the Setup Assistant that…

47 Preference files To adjust settings that you can’t change in an app’s preferences panel, try editing its preference files directly. Normally you’ll find them stored as property list (.plist) documents—plain-text files in XML format, which you can open and edit in any text editor. If you have Apple’s free Xcode developer software (go.macworld.com/xcode), double-clicking a .plist file opens it in Xcode, which offers a convenient, database-style view of it. You’re most likely to find preference files in either/Library/Preferences or username/Library/Preferences. To see the latter location, hold down <Option> while choosing Library from the Finder’s Go menu and then, within that folder, navigate to Library/Preferences. Preference files use a reverse-domain naming scheme; for example, the preference file for the Finder is com.apple.finder.plist. Before editing one of these files, quit the…

Yes, there really is malware for Macs, but you can avoid it. 55 Upgrade to Mountain Lion It has some important built-in protection against malware. 56 Isolate Flash and Java These are two of the biggest security headaches. Uninstall Flash using the uninstall tool from Adobe. Then download Google Chrome, which includes its own sandboxed version of Flash. You’ll either have to switch to Chrome as your primary browser or use it whenever you navigate to a Flash-enabled site. (Don’t forget to review the browser’s privacy settings.) 57 Install the latest version of Java If you really need Java, get Java 7. Note that, because Java 7 is 64-bit and Chrome is only 32-bit, this version of Java will work only in Safari. Disable it (Safari Preferences → Security, uncheck…

On some occasions you might want to visit a website without revealing anything about yourself (such as your IP address or operating system) to the site itself, your ISP, or any other networks through which your data passes. You may also wish to keep your surfing hidden from hackers who might be eavesdropping on public Wi-Fi networks, and prevent records of your activity (such as browsing history and cookies) from being stored on your Mac. 79 Private browsing Most Web browsers have a private browsing mode (for example, in Safari, choose Safari → Private Browsing), but that addresses only part of the problem. A private browsing mode prevents your browser from storing information about where you have been. However, it doesn’t prevent the websites you visit from knowing your IP…

90 Wrap selected text in quotes Create a new Service workflow. In the header area, tell it to process selected text in any application. Click the Output replaces selected text checkbox. Drag the Run AppleScript action to the workflow, and enter the following: Save the finished workflow. Now when you select some text, and right-or <Control>-click it and choose Services, you should see your service. Click that, and the selected text should appear in quotes. 91 Get a word count Create a new Service workflow and set it to process selected text in any application. Leave the Output replaces selected text checkbox unchecked. Then add the Run Apple-Script action to the workflow, and enter: Save the workflow. Select some text, open the Services menu, and choose your service to get…

How often do you use your Web browser? If the answer is constantly, then following these simple tips for Safari 6 could save you loads of time and trouble. Bookmark a Page Instantly Create a new bookmark on the bookmarks bar by dragging the current page’s favicon (the icon in front of the URL) from the address field into the bookmarks bar. The bookmark’s default name will be selected, so you can immediately type a new name. Cut Through Your Bookmark Clutter Overwhelmed by bookmarks? The first step is to organize them into folders (Bookmarks → Add Bookmark Folder). In Mountain Lion, Safari 6 makes it simple to share content you see on the Web. Click the Share button in the Safari 6 toolbar to do so quickly. The next…

Springtime has arrived. You’ve cleaned your house; now how about cleaning up your act with your technology too? Here are a few ways to kick some bad computing habits. 1: Stop Littering Your Desktop Your computer desktop is a convenient place to store files, because you can see them easily and get to them fast. But it can get messy, just as a real desk surface can. The first step in cleaning up these files is to sort them. Right-click (or <Control>-click) the desktop, choose Sort By from the contextual menu that appears, and choose a sort criterion. I recommend sorting first by Date Modified, to find files you’ve left unchanged for an especially long time. Shunt these off to a folder elsewhere, and give the folder a name such…

I knew that cord cutting’s time had come when I visited my wife’s parents in Arkansas recently. My father-in-law has a giant flat-screen HDTV hooked to a killer stereo system, making his home theater feel much like an actual theater. On this visit, however, his cable box was gone: It had been supplanted by a Roku, and the cable service replaced by Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, and Netflix. That works out to a savings of at least $30 a month—well worth it, my father-in-law says, even though he can’t watch CBS shows or live golf anymore. It’s one thing when people in their twenties and thirties leave cable behind—my wife and I cut the cord after Hulu debuted and while Netflix’s streaming service was loaded with second-tier movies from the…

Digital audio recording is all about having the right tools—that, and a great sound. From microphones that reproduce the finest acoustic details to audio interfaces that allow creative manipulation, hardware has a significant effect on your end product. Rounding everything out is the machine you plug that gear into: your computer. Here’s what it takes to ensure that your Mac or PC can handle its role at the center of your home recording studio. Choose a Computer to Record Music With all of the advanced hardware geared toward digital music recording, you might think that a computer with impressive specs would be necessary. For audio recording tasks, however, most any consumer-level computer can do the job. Recording software uses a technique called multitrack recording, which needs numerous audio files to…

HOW-TO Autofocus is one of those modern marvels that we take for granted—even the cheapest camera is good at focusing precisely on your subject. Unfortunately, sometimes your camera gets the focus wrong, or takes too long. Let’s look at some instances in which you should consider doing it the old-fashioned way. Autofocus Refresher First, let’s review how autofocus works. When you press the shutter release, the camera quickly focuses on whatever is in the middle of the viewfinder. But what if you don’t want to focus on that? Some cameras use built-in logic to sniff out the real subject in the frame and focus on it, whether it’s dead center or not. Read your camera’s manual to learn how to control that option. Also, many cameras have focusing zones: By…

Convert Image Files to Comics Q: I’m an artist-in-training, and I have a few of my own “comics” saved as JPEG files. I’d really like to view them in a comics-reader app on my iPad, but how do I format them? Will Simpson A: Comics apps such as Comic Zeal (go.macworld.com/comiczeal) are compatible with the DRM-free comic-book file formats .cbr and .cbz. Those are both compressed formats, related to RAR and ZIP files, respectively. Converting your JPEG files to a comics-compatible format is a cinch. First, make sure that you’ve numbered your images in the correct page order, naming them (for example) My Comic-001-001.jpg, My Comic-001-002.jpg, and so on (the first set of digits is the issue number, and the second is the page number), or pages may not display…

Blame the floppy disk. For years it served as the icon for “save,” illustrating to the user that the computer would write data to that flat square thing with the hole in it. Clicking that icon would block the UI with an hourglass cursor, and cue up the familiar grinding song of a floppy drive. Then, in 1998, Apple introduced the iMac—with no floppy drive. Though some companies continued shipping floppy drives for more than a decade, most of the industry quickly abandoned those square disks. But the icon persisted. The modern term for using digital graphical representations of physical items is skeuomorphism, and recently skeuomorphism has been taking a lot of heat. For instance, Apple’s Calendar app, with the appearance of rich leather and beautiful stitching, may be heavy-handed,…

Tips, Tricks, and Thingamabobs It’s time for more tips every Mac user should know, and although our editors have suggestions later on in the magazine, here in Feedback we wanted to hear from you. Readers also wrote to us about Christopher Breen’s February editorial on disruption, and about Office on iOS. APPLE’S FUTURE DISRUPTIONS Breen has it right that we need to look to more-human human interfaces. And iPads and iPods are doing it, with Macs coming along nicely. Nevertheless, I think that the Apple folks need to be sure that they do not cripple our ability to organize stuff. File structure is not necessary if I have stuff in the tens, and use one app to access that stuff. Get much more stuff than that, or need to access…

Apple’s MacBook Air is thin, light, and great for traveling—but when you get to your desk, the ritual of plugging in a keyboard, an external monitor, speakers, and an external hard drive can feel anything but convenient. For ethernet users, the absence of an ethernet port in the Mac-Book Air (and the Retina MacBook Pro) can pose a problem if you don’t have Apple’s Thunderbolt Display or Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter. The DS1 from Matrox can help. This $249 docking station has a single Thunderbolt connector, and when you link it to your Mac with a Thunderbolt cable, the DS1 provides connectivity for audio, gigabit ethernet, USB 3.0 (one port), and USB 2.0 (two ports). It does not have FireWire ports. Matrox sells two different models of the DS1:…

UTILITY: Trickster 2.1.1 4.0/5.0; $10; Apparent Software; apparentsoft.com If you find Apple’s various recent-item menus useful, but wish they were smarter, you’re the target audience for Trickster, a menu-bar utility that’s more flexible and capable than OS X’s options. When running, Trickster monitors your Mac, watching for any document, folder, or app that you open or that is modified. Click Trickster’s systemwide menu-bar icon, and a window opens that by default lists all of those recent items; the color of each item’s name in the list reflects any labels you’ve applied to it. Double-click an item to open it, or drag it out of the Trickster window to work with it as if you were dragging its icon in the Finder. You can sort the list alphabetically or by date/time…

Comic book publishers, including Marvel Comics, have found success in selling à la carte digital issues, via ComiXology’s Comix mobile app and Marvel’s own app. But Marvel’s first foray into selling comics digitally was its Digital Comics Unlimited subscription service, with its catalog of over 10,000 comics. Ever since the service launched in 2007, it has required Adobe Flash—an unfortunate choice given that mobile devices, notably Flash-averse tablets such as the iPad, are ideal for reading digital comics. But Marvel has been beta-testing (among paying subscribers only, it seems) an HTML-based viewer for use on non-Flash devices. I’ve read several issues on my iPad and have found it does a decent job, but with some weak spots. The service lets you read unlimited issues, but the library lacks current issues…

Jumpin’ Jackabee PlayPhone GAMES When I want a gaming app to while away idle hours, I look for games that are immersive and challenging, but that require a low commitment, such as Angry Birds and World of Goo. Now, Jumpin’ Jackabee PlayPhone joins that group. Jumpin’ Jackabee is a beautifully designed, addictive action puzzler that captures the spirit of the 1980s Q-bert arcade game. You are Jackabee, a cute, rabbitlike creature, and your goal is to hop along a floating block structure, gobble up apples, power-ups, and other goodies, find hidden stars, and hop down a hole that leads you to the next level—all while avoiding an increasingly serious series of baddies. The game has 18 worlds to unlock, each more challenging than the next. You can enter the first…

Click an icon in the Finder, and press 1-I, and you’ll be presented with the associated item’s Info window. There you can perform a number of useful chores, including the following nine. 1 Change the file’s icon Copy an image into your Mac’s Clipboard, select the icon in the Info window’s top-left corner, and choose Edit → Paste. 2 Add keywords to Spotlight Comments Enter keywords in the Spotlight Comments area such as Awesome, Business, and Yum; afterward, you can use these keywords to search for files with Spotlight. 3 Create stationery pads Turn the file into a stationery pad. These elements behave much like templates: When you open a file that you’ve designated as a stationery pad, you’ll be working with a copy of the document, rather than with…

If you’ve been using a Mac for a while, you know that an alias is a tiny file that points to—and acts as—another. For example, an alias on your desktop might provide quick access to a file buried in your user folder. As a Unix-based operating system, OS X also supports symbolic links (also variously known as symlinks and soft links), which are essentially Unix’s version of aliases. You should understand how they differ and how to create both. Oversimplifying a bit, an alias acts as an enduring reference to an item such as a file, a folder, or a volume. If you move the target item, the alias will still point to it. If you rename the target item, the alias will still point to it. OS X “remembers”…

27 Launch QuickTime Player and choose File → New Screen Recording. In the Screen Recording window that appears at this point, click the downward-pointing triangle; then choose whether to record with sound or without sound, and whether to capture medium-or highquality video. You can also opt to show mouse clicks in your recording. To commence the capture, click the red Record button. To record the entire screen, click anywhere on the screen. To record a portion of the screen, click and drag to make your selection and then click within the selection. To end your recording, simply click the Stop button.…

If you can’t get to a webpage, try the following steps. 32 Check your Internet connection The first thing to do is to confirm whether you can access other websites. If you can, your connection is fine. 33 Check the Wi-Fi menu This is to make sure your Mac hasn’t dropped its connection; if it has, try reconnecting. 34 Try another device If another Mac, an iPhone, or an iPad on the same network can connect to the website that you are having trouble with, then restart your Mac and try again. If this doesn’t work, try restarting your DSL or cable modem followed by your AirPort base station or other Wi-Fi router, if any. If you do all that and your connection is still down, it’s time to call…

49 If you ever forget your account password, and you’re running OS X 10.7 (Lion) or 10.8 (Mountain Lion) with a Recovery HD partition, you have an easy way to reset that password. (Note: This procedure doesn’t work if you have enabled OS X’s FileVault encryption feature.) Start up your Mac while holding command-R, and release the keys once you see the familiar gray Apple logo. When your Mac enters recovery mode (it shows you the OS X Utilities screen), choose Utilities → Terminal to launch the Terminal utility. Type resetpassword and press <Return>. In the Reset Password window, select your startup volume, and choose your account (the one for which you want to change the password) from the pop-up menu. Enter a new password for the account, and then…

63 Questionable websites Avoid the obvious trifecta of pornography, gambling, and illegal download sites. 64 Forum links Automated attack tools can make links posted in forums of any type dangerous. Use extra caution, no matter how innocuous the site seems. 65 Image search Google or Bing image search can also lead to infected sites. A family member of mine got infected hunting for birthday cake photos. 66 Free games Ignore any site pushing free games that require Java or a download, but that aren’t signed for Gatekeeper. 67 Suspicious links Avoid any link sent by a friend in email (usually to multiple people) with a subject line like “Pictures of you,” “Check out this link,” or “You have to see this.” Call your friend on the phone and tell them…

82 When you open Terminal, you see the blinking cursor and, depending on your setup, your username, the current time, the current directory, or other such information. But do you know how to customize that prompt? Here’s how. In Terminal, type nano .bash_profile. That’ll put you in the nano text editor; don’t panic. Now type export PS1="", but between those quotation marks put your choice of the following switches: \W The current directory \w The current directory, with the full path \h Your computer’s host name (that is, your computer’s network name) \u Your username \d The current date \t The current time Note that you can also add any spaces, colons, dashes, and so on that you’d like to make the results look good. When you’re done, press <Control>-X…

95 Type text Apple’s Preview app lets you fill in PDF files that have fillable form fields, such as tax forms you download from the IRS website. For such documents, simply click in a field and start typing. (You can also check or uncheck a box by clicking it.) When you’re done, save the document and then print or email it as you would any other document. If you encounter a PDF with blanks to be filled in but no fields that accept typed data, you can still type text onto it in Preview. Choose Tools → Annotate → Text, drag a rectangle to define the area you want to type into, and start typing. You can then use the controls on the Annotations toolbar to adjust font, size, color,…

OS X can alert you to incoming messages from your key people. If you get a lot of email, you know how hard it can be to spot messages from family and friends, or from your critical contacts. The recent VIP feature, added to OS X Mountain Lion and iOS 6, can alert you when you get email from your most important friends and colleagues, whether you’re using your computer, an iOS device, or even iCloud mail on the Web. Set Up VIPs The VIPs feature works on Macs running Mountain Lion, on iOS devices running iOS 6, and on iCloud on the Web. You can create up to 100 VIPs. As long as you’re signed in to your iCloud account, your VIPs will propagate across your devices. In addition,…

Hardware: G-Drive Mobile 3.0/5.0; $180; G-Technology; www.g-technology.com G-Technology’s G-Drive Mobile is a portable, bus-powered external hard drive designed to complement your Apple laptop. It has an attractive aluminum case, a three-year warranty, and USB 3.0 and FireWire 800 connectivity. The drive comes formatted as HFS+, so it’s ready to use right out of the box with Macs new and old. In Macworld Lab tests, the drive posted a write speed of 58.4 megabytes per second and a read speed of 76 MBps over FireWire 800 in the AJA System Test. Via USB 3.0, the G-Drive Mobile posted a write speed of 95.9 MBps and a read speed of 97.3 MBps. Overall, the drive’s middling speeds are comparable to those of WD’s My Passport Studio and Seagate’s Backup Plus, each of…

Hardware: Bose SoundLink Air 3.5/5.0; $350; Bose; bose.com The SoundLink Air Digital Music System, an AirPlay version of Bose’s SoundDock speaker docks, is a somewhat portable speaker system. It can run on a battery, but doesn’t include one—Bose’s rechargeable lithium-ion battery is a $90 option. Once the SoundLink Air is on your wireless network, you can send audio to it from any compatible AirPlay device. When you do, you’ll hear satisfying, room-filling sound. The SoundLink seems tuned to boost bass levels relative to other frequencies; if you like a little extra kick, you’ll enjoy the effect. The overall sound is otherwise crisp and clean. I did notice a bit of low-end distortion at peak volumes on bass-heavy music, but dialing down the volume a smidgen alleviated that distortion. The SoundLink…

Just when I was ready to send Canon off to the retirement home, it introduced one of the most creative cameras I saw at January’s CES 2013 trade show. The PowerShot N (available in April for $300, in black or white) has a new square design with few buttons, no conventional shutter release, and a tilting, swinging, 2.8-inch 461,000-dot LCD touchscreen that fills the entire back of the camera. What prompted this departure from tradition? In 2011 compact-camera sales were down as much as 30 percent in some sectors—and the numbers didn’t improve in 2012. One factor contributing to the sales slump was the increased adoption of smartphones. So why not build a gadget that enhances the photo capacity of existing mobile devices? With the PowerShot N, Canon is adopting…

Hardware: Samsung NX1000 3.5/5.0; $500; Samsung; samsung.com While Samsung has streamlined aspects of the NX1000, the least expensive of its NX mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, it has not scrimped on the sensor size or resolution, building in a 20-megapixel APS-C sensor. Bundled with a 20–50mm lens, the NX1000 weighs 0.48 pound (without the battery or media card) and measures 4.59 by 2.46 by 1.44 inches. The unit is sturdily built, and its grip is reasonably comfortable. The 3-inch, 921,000-dot LCD is clear and bright except in harsh sunlight. The screen is fixed, and it doesn’t brighten up much in superlow light. Like Samsung’s NX20 (see the review to the right), the NX1000 has wireless functionality. Options include Samsung’s MobileLink iOS app, which you can use to send and view images on…

AirPort Extreme Drives and Multiple Macs OS X’s Time Machine can back up a drive to any other drive that is physically connected to your Mac, internal or external. It can also back up to Apple’s Time Capsule. The primary advantage of Time Capsule is that its drive is accessible to any Mac on your local network, permitting you to back up multiple Macs to the same drive simultaneously. Plus, AirPort Extreme supports adding a hard drive to its USB port. Once you’ve connected such a drive, you can enable file sharing, so multiple users can share data from the drive. You’d think this means Time Machine can back up to a USB drive connected to an AirPort Extreme. But you would be wrong. Apple states: “Time Machine can’t backup…

Apple has updated its largest all-in-one desktop computer, the 27-inch iMac, with many under-the-hood changes, but the first thing people notice is how thin it is. Does the new iMac’s impressive 5mm edge justify losses in functionality? Apple offers its new 27-inch iMacs in two standard configurations, both using Intel’s quad-core Ivy Bridge processors. The high-end $1999 model sports a 3.2GHz Core i5 processor, while the low-end $1799 model uses a 2.9GHz Core i5. In our tests the 3.2GHz model was between 5 and 7 percent faster than the 2.9GHz model at handling processor-intensive tasks. Both CPUs can use Turbo Boost to run at speeds of 3.6GHz for brief periods of time. For $200 more, you can order a 3.4GHz quad-core Core i7 CPU that supports Turbo Boost up to…

Creative cable organizers can help you organize your wires, cords, and cables, before you end up with an actual fire. Cable IDs These flexible, helix-shaped cable labels ($8, The Container Store) wrap around cables and accept ballpoint pen or marker labeling. Sumo Cable Box The paperweight-like Sumo cable box ($2, BlueLounge) has two grooves for cables to run through, and micro-suction pads so that the box won’t slip off of your desk. It comes in black and white versions. Your Magnet Available in red, scarlet, chocolate, gray, and lime green, this suction cup magnet ($7, Lufdesign) attaches to mobile devices and keeps multiple cables organized. It’s useful if, say, you have several USB devices plugged into a laptop.…

Let’s turn back the clock to Macworld Expo Boston, 1997. Not literally: It wouldn’t really serve any purpose, and it would definitely take too long. Particularly if it’s an analog clock. But go back and watch the now-in-famous Steve Jobs keynote from that Expo—you can find it on YouTube (go.macworld.com/jobskeynote)—and any number of ironies will jump out at you. For starters, you’ll see Steve Jobs talk about how great it was that Apple and Microsoft had just committed to cross-licensing their patents. Why was this great, according to the man who would, a little over ten years later, pledge to wage “thermonuclear war” against Android? “Relationships that are destructive don’t help anybody in this industry,” Jobs said. “I’m extremely proud of these companies, that they have resolved these differences in…

Yes, the iPhone is officially coming to T-Mobile in the United States. But the device will probably be much pricier—at least up front—than it is at competing wireless carriers. John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom AG, told Reuters in January that the U.S. wireless carrier would begin carrying the iPhone “in three or four months.” However, the phone will arrive at the same time that the company eliminates subsidies for smartphones, meaning that the basic 16GB iPhone 5—which costs $200 from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon—might sell for the full $649 cost that Apple charges for unlocked and contract-free phones. The upside? Normally, those companies get the subsidies paid back during the life of the two-year contract that they require customers to sign when buying the phones. If…

Hardware: PureGear Kickstand Case and Holster 4.0/5.0; $30; PureGear; www.pure-gear.com If you watch a lot of video or use FaceTime often, this lightweight iPhone case/stand/holster combo could come in handy. The rubberized case’s kickstand lets you prop up your iPhone in landscape or portrait orientation for easy viewing. Or you can close the kickstand and slip the case into a separate holster that clips onto a belt or bag. Removing the phone from the case can take some prying, so the case is best for long-term storage. But it feels protective despite being so light.—LEAH YAMSHON SuperTooth Crystal 3.0/5.0; $70; SuperTooth; www.supertooth.net For people who conduct a huge volume of calls in their car, a Bluetooth speakerphone is the way to go. The well-priced SuperTooth Crystal is one such model…

For whatever reason—maybe you were in a rush when you first set up your Mac, maybe your name has changed—you may someday want to change your short username. (That’s the one that gives a name to your home folder in the Finder—the no-spaces name that you use in various places in OS X, not the longer username found in the Users & Groups pane of System Preferences.) Here are two effective ways to change the shorter username. 10 Use an alias This method will work if you want to be able to enter a shorter name in name/password dialog box fields or when logging in to your account. So if your name is Englebert Rumplestiltskin, and the OS X Setup Assistant kindly made your short username ‘engle-bertrumplestiltskin’, you can create…

Running out of disk space? It’s easy to do, especially on a laptop Mac that has limited flash storage available. When you need more space for your apps and data, try taking these steps. 15 Empty the Trash Simply dragging files to the Trash doesn’t free up the disk space that they occupy. To clear the space completely, you must also choose Finder → Empty Trash. (Remember to go back and empty the Trash again after performing the other tips in this list!) 16 Restart Restarting can free up a bit of space by clearing virtual memory swap files, certain caches, and a few other items. 17 Clean out your Downloads folder Your Downloads folder (at the top level of your home folder, by default) can easily become clogged with…

28 Locally If your Mac is set up on the same local network as the Mac that you wish to control remotely, you just need to ensure that Screen Sharing is enabled on both Macs (System Preferences → Sharing → Screen Sharing). In a Finder window’s sidebar, select the Mac you wish to control or view, and then click Share Screen. Enter a username and password for the Mac that you intend to control (or choose to log in with an Apple ID supported by that Mac). You should be screensharing in no time. 29 Remotely If you want to control a Mac that isn’t on your Mac’s local network, sign up for a free AIM account (www.aim.com) on each system, using a different account for each. On each computer,…

You just launched an application, one that you have used many times before. But this time, it crashes. Or it freezes, and you have to Force Quit it. Now what? 38 Launch it again If an application is going to crash, it will typically do so as soon as you launch it. Occasionally, if you simply relaunch the application, it will start working again. So, click the Reopen button in the dialog box that appears after a crash. 39 Restart your Mac Sometimes a combination of events on your system can cause an app to crash with each relaunch. Restarting the Mac clears the slate and puts the app back in business. 40 Check for updates Are you using the latest version of the app? If not, update it, especially…

Even if you resist the temptation to send your life’s savings to a recently exiled Nigerian president, you can still be victimized by phishing attacks. Take steps to defend yourself. 50 Use a cloud-based email spam filter Services such as iCloud and Google Mail include this feature, which will stop a lot of phishing efforts. 51 Replace your email client’s junk filter Install the excellent Spam-Sieve (5.0/5.0; $30; go.macworld.com/spamsieve), and take some time to train it. 52 Keep your browser up-to-date And once you do, be sure its phishing and malware protection, which checks all Web addresses against a list of known bad sites, is turned on. In Safari, go to Settings → Security; in Chrome, find it under Settings → Advanced → Privacy. 53 Use different email addresses Try…

71 Enable File Vault You can go to your Mac’s System Preferences’ Security & Privacy pane and turn on File Vault to encrypt your entire hard drive. 72 Put them in the Library Assuming that your Library folder is hidden (which is the default in OS X Lion and OS X 10.7 Mountain Lion), hold down the <Option> key as you open the Finder’s Go menu to navigate to that Library folder, and then drag files and folders into it. 73 Put them in another user account You can create a new user in System Preferences’ Users & Groups preference, copy files to that user’s Public folder, log in as that user to move your files out of the Public folder, and then log back in as yourself. Remember to…

Smart searchers know they can narrow their searches by using Google search operators. (You can place most of these terms anywhere in your query; those beginning with all need to come at the beginning.) 83 filetype: This search operator restricts the results to items of a specific filetype. Entering puppies filetype:jpg will get you lots of puppy pictures. 84 intext/allintext: Finds pages containing a specific string of text. For example, Beatles breakup intext:Paul McCartney finds pages containing Paul’s name and the words Beatles, breakup, or both. The operator allintext goes at the start of the search field and forces Google to return only those pages that contain all of the following search terms. 85 intitle/allintitle: Similar to intext, this search operator searches for specified terms in the title of webpages.…

The Messages app is obviously great for exchanging messages with other Mountain Lion and iOS users. But it can do much more. 97 IM anyone Messages works with AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Jabber, and Yahoo. Among the third-party networks that support Jabber for chatting is Facebook: You can create a Jabber account in Messages with your Facebook username@chat.facebook.com as the account name, chat.facebook.com as the server, and 5222 as the port (leaving the other default options unchanged). 98 Send SMS To send text messages to people who aren’t using iPhones, first log in to your AIM account. Then, send a message to the contact you would like to IM, using his or her phone number. Make sure to fully qualify that number—that is, prefix it with a plus (+)…

The House of Marley’s $200 Lively Up Leather Scout Pack (www.thehouseofmarley.com) is a good-looking, eco-friendly laptop bag that adjusts to fit all sorts of goodies—including a full-size iPad and a 15-inch MacBook Pro. The Scout Pack is a standard backpack made from the company’s weather-resistant Rewind fabric, which is a blend of recycled hemp, recycled organic cotton, and RPET (fabric spun from recycled pieces of plastic water bottles). One particularly useful feature of the pack is its adjustability. Metal hooks and loops secure the compartment flaps, which means that if you’re using the pack for just, say, an iPad and a few other items, you can use loops farther down the bag to make the bag more compact and to keep its contents secure. The Scout Pack is cleverly designed,…

The iTunes MiniPlayer has been around for years, but Apple has enhanced its functionality in iTunes 11. In addition to being a control center for playing your music, it can help you search for songs, playlists, and more, and it gives you access to the Up Next queue. Here’s how to get the most out of the new iTunes MiniPlayer. A Mini Window If you want to use the MiniPlayer, you need to display it. In iTunes 11, choose Window → MiniPlayer, or simply press command-<Option>-3; this action will bring up the MiniPlayer as well as the main iTunes interface. If you want to use just the Mini-Player, click the rectangular button at the upper-right corner of the main iTunes window (to the left of the control to enter full…

Motorheadphones If you’ve ever asked yourself WWLLT (What Would Lemmy Listen To?), now you finally have your answer. Lemmy Kilmister, the frontman of the band Motorhead, was on hand at the CES 2013 trade show to introduce the new Motorheadphones line, which includes five headphones and earphones designed to bring out the midrange tones that other headphones sacrifice in the name of bass. The metalthemed (as in heavy metal) headphone designs come with features you’d expect—some with in-line mics and controls for use with mobile devices, others with turntable ear cups for DJs—but all are made to provide clear mids along with warm lows and well-defined highs (www.motorheadphones.com).—JONATHAN SEFF Amazon’s iOS-Optimized MP3 Store Watch your back, iTunes: Amazon is now letting iPhone and iPod touch owners browse and buy from…

Even in the age of YouTube, shooting and sharing on-the-spot video can be a challenge. Unless you have a genuine vision for your movie, it’s often a chore to decide what to include and what to trim, what music to use, which transitions look best, and whether to apply artistic filters. The process can be baffling and discouraging. And despite your best efforts, the end product can still look cheesy. A new free creation and sharing app called Montaj (go.macworld.com/montaj) seeks to reduce the creative complexity of the process, yet at the same time deliver high-quality video that crackles with originality and creative spark. Montaj is the result of a collaboration between longtime friends Damir Gjokaj and Dan Long. It’s the iPhone’s newest antilinear digital video-editing tool. The app lets…

Back Up Reminders If you use the Reminder widget (go.macworld.com/reminder), you have a couple of ways to back up reminders. First of all, you can find Reminder .ics files in youruserfolder/Library/Calendars; as long as that folder is backed up, whether by Time Machine or by some other system, you can always retrieve a backup copy. Another way is to export your reminders. You probably know that you can export a calendar in the Calendar app by selecting File → Export; that will save an .ics file wherever you want. But you can also do the exact same thing.File → Export.in Reminders. Quickly Hide Calendars in Calendar Sometimes you may want to quickly display just one calendar and hide all the others—to see upcoming birthdays in month view, for example. If…

Reviving a Dead Apple Remote Q: I have several old Apple remote controls—the white ones. I hear that they work with today’s Apple gear, but all of mine are dead. Can I do anything to revive them? Greg Willis A: Take a close look at the bottom of the remotes, and you’ll see a small round dimple. If you apply pressure to that spot, something helpful should happen. In this case, the spring-loaded battery tray should pop out. However, I’ve yet to make the tray spring out with just the pressure of a well-placed finger. Instead, grab a paper clip, straighten out one end, and press the dimple with that end. Ploink—out comes the tray. Inside, you’ll find a 3-volt lithium battery (model CR2032). These batteries are common enough that…