Mac

Leaked Apple Patent Filing is Full of New Multitouch Tech For a Mac Tablet

Appleinsider has gotten their hands on a large patent filing from Apple that we haven’t seen before, and it’s loaded with plans for how a multitouch interface would work on a tablet Mac running full-blown OS X. It covers how small interface buttons will be handled, iPhone-like scrolling through lists, details on a full multi-touch keyboard, and a nifty pop-up scroll wheel. And on top of all that, it seems like it’ll even work if you have freaky alien fingers! Let’s take a closer look. The full QWERTY keyboard above has provisions not just for multiple finger keystrokes, but for accepting inputs from all fingers of both hands for touch typing, including multiple key combinations like ctrl-alt-delete and shift/option commands. Read the rest of this entry

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Psystar to Countersue Apple, Take No Guff

Psystar, prominent makers of “Hackintosh” PCs running Mac OS X, is set to respond to Apple’s copyright infringement suit on Tuesday and file a countersuit of their own, just like we thought. Psystar owner Rudy Pedraza insists that his OpenComputer hardware is merely “providing an alternative, an option” to Apple’s pricey hardware. Pedraza plans to countersue Apple under two federal antitrust laws, hoping to prove that Apple’s fierce tethering of OS to hardware represents an “anticompetitive restraint of trade.” It’ll be an uphill battle to fight Apple’s legal team, but I kind of hope they win: it’s like David versus Goliath, if David and Goliath were both big nerds. [CNET]

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Open Tech Mac Clone Company Wants To Sell Itself For $50,000

It’s only been three weeks since the mac “clone” company Open Tech made its debut, but it’s already putting itself up for sale for $50,000. In an email on July 20, their Vice President Elijah Samaroo said that they were going to “beat psystar and not make the mistake they did.” By this we took it to mean not distribute a hacked copy of Leopard, which is already available on the internet and is the people have been installing OS X on non-Apple machines for quite a while. That’s not what they were doing, unfortunately. When we asked them whether they could install a plan retail copy of Leopard you purchase at the store onto their hardware without modification, they said “no”. The only legit way of actually being “open” is to modify hardware to fool Leopard into thinking that you’re putting it on a Mac. In this sense, Open Tech is the exact same as Psystar, and both will most likely be smacked down by Apple. $500 is too much to pay for this company. [Wired]

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Microsoft’s Seinfeld Ads Considered Other Stars Like Colbert, Sarah Silverman, McConaughey and the Late Bernie Mac

Earlier today we learned that Microsoft is planning a $300 million advertising campaign starring Jerry Seinfeld in an attempt to counter the success that Apple has had with their PC vs Mac ads. However, according to FBLA, Microsoft may not stop with Seinfeld. Rumor has it that stars like Sarah Silverman, Willie Nelson, Travis Pastrana, Matthew McConaughey, Ralph Nader, Rob Corddry, Stephen Colbert and even the late Bernie Mac were/are being considered for the ad. Again, it’s just a rumor, but this approach worked for the Bill Gates retirement video didn’t it? [Yeah, no Bernie Mac for obvious reasons. - BL] [FBLA via Gawker]

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Nervian’s CardReader Pro fits right in with PowerMac G5 / Mac Pro

As your never-ending quest to find peripherals specifically made to match beautifully with your PowerMac G5 / Mac Pro continues, we’ve one that’ll surely shoot right to the top of your must-have list. Nervian’s CardReader Pro slips just under the front handle of your tower, providing (almost) integrated card reader functionality without putting a damper on your rig’s style. Better still, the USB 2.0 unit supports 52 different flavors of flash memory, ensuring that just about every card you toss in there will mount in short order. There’s no word on how costly this will be when it ships in October, but those definitely interested can nab 15% off by signing up for details at the outfit’s website.

[Thanks, choco]

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