The agony and the ecstasy of the new MacBook Air’s battery→

/

David Chartier:

For all the incredibleness of the MacBook Air’s new battery, the device is still dependent on WiFi hotspots and, let’s face it, the internet is an essential ingredient these days for getting most things done. Now, keep in mind that adding 4G radios to the MacBook Air likely poses its own share of challenges that Apple has clearly decided to avoid for the Mac, at least so far. In general, it seems like 3G/4G radios have never been very popular in notebooks for some reason.

I can see why David wants cellular data in a MacBook, but I guess I don't find it to be much of a bother to just fire up Personal Hotspot on my iPhone.

Six Years

/

On June 29, 2007, Apple released the first iPhone. It didn't have third-party apps, copy & paste, or even something as simple as sending a photo or video over MMS. Six years later the iPhone is the most important product Apple sells. When thinking about people who make apps, people who use those apps every day, children with disability or without learning easier and faster — it makes one wonder how many lives this one device has enriched in a mere six years.

It is truly amazing the leap forward we've taken with technology in this short time, and what else is yet to come.

Feed Wrangler’s Smart Streams→

/

On the topic of a post-Google Reader RSS world, and specifically regarding my choice of FeedWrangler, this explanation by Shawn Blanc of how versatile Smart Streams are in FeedWranger is fantastic. I learned quite a bit about them, and though I have some set up as "folders" like I had in Google Reader, I can completely see myself using keyword based Smart Streams and Filters for seasons of organization.

If you are also settling on FeedWrangler, you should definitely read up on Smart Streams.

The Google Reader Shutdown is Near, Where Are You Going?

/

If you've been using Google Reader and haven't moved to a new feed reader service yet, you should probably find a new home in the 72 hours or so.

I've personally settled on FeedWrangler so my news addiction. I've always liked underscore David Smith's stuff, like Check the Weather.

FeedWrangler runs $19 a year, and I am totally fine with that as I like paying for things I like so they stick around. I also like its deep Instapaper support, and its take on folders — Smart Streams — are really handy.

David has also made a first party universal iPhone and iPad app, and it is really basic. It works for now, but I am really glad to know Reeder is going to support it soon. Hopefully sooner than later.

Ember→

/

The fine folks over at Realmac software put a little announcement out about LittleSnapper today. LittleSnapper is an app that helps you capture full web pages and other screenshots, organize them (for example, as reference for a certain project), and even mark them up. Over the past few years, LittleSnapper has been a great tool for me for various things.

Back in the day, LittleSnapper had a web service with it, too, called QuickSnapper, which was eventually rebranded as Ember. That service did go by the wayside, unfortunately.

But now the Ember brand is being rekindled (pardon the pun). LittleSnapper 2 will be coming out in July, but it will be called Ember. Honestly, I think it is a better name for the app, and it has one of the most adorable icons you could imagine for an app.

I've been privileged to be testing Ember for the past few months, and while I can't really say anything about it, I will say that you'll want to invest in this app.

Byword 2 | Review

/

I've been beta testing Byword 2 for OS X & iOS for a while, and I am really glad it's finally here. It has many little improvements I've been thirsting after for some time, and a great big feature I wish my host/CMS — Squarespace 6 — had an API to use with.

If you're not in-the-know already, Byword is a fantastic app focused on writing. It simply gets out of your way gives you a page to write on, with minimal fluff to deal with. The best part is that it is designed for web publishing as it is one of the best — no, wait, I'll just say the best — Markdown-centric apps I've used.

The grand marquee feature of Byword 2 is blog publishing. You can now publish your text directly to Wordpress, Tumblr, Blogger, Scriptogram, or Evernote. I've been dabbling a bit more into Evernote use, so maybe I will find a home for this feature via the big green elephant. I haven't used the publishing feature, to be completely honest, so I can say very little about it.

Byword 2 also sports improved conflict resolution, showing you each conflicting version in their entirety, so you can make an informed decision on which is the keeper. The update also includes better handing of new, edited, renamed, and deleted documents in Airplane Mode.

The remaining features are the removal of friction points that I have run into with previous versions. When viewing the Markdown preview, Byword 2 now keeps the scroll position intact. This is one of those things you subconsciously knew was annoying that is now fixed.

On iOS specifically, you can now move and duplicate documents. This is handy if you decide you'd rather have a document on Dropbox instead of iCloud, or vice-versa. Fonts on iOS are also much better. Rather than some obscure fonts you've never heard of, Byword 2 now uses Avenir Next (yay!), Helvetica Neue, Courier, and Georgia. I, for one, am in love with the Avenir font family, so I am really glad the developers added it (they were extremely gracious when I was being super-annoying about it during the beta).

If you regularly write for the web there are two things that will help make your life so much easier: learn Markdown, and use Byword.

Byword 2 is a free update for existing users and $10 (OS X)/$3(iOS) for new users. The publishing feature is an in-app purchase for $5 on each platform.

Twitter for Mac Updated→

/

Speaking of being shocked, I thought this app was long dead. The last time it had received an update prior to today was June 1, 2011. That's right, OS X Snow Leopard reigned king when Twitter for Mac was last updated.

But, it appears Twitter is breathing new life into their desktop app. They added Twitter Photos support, Retina graphics, updated iconography, and a slew of languages. They've even put Ben Sandofsky in charge of it full time.

We'll see what happens, but personally, I am more excited that Iconfactory is working on Twitterrific 5 for Mac.