Tech Peek Base

I work in a busy office. Occasionally a coworker will call or knock on my door and ask for my help with something, and the two of us will go to wherever I am needed. Most of them time I get back to my office and realize that I have left my MacBook Pro unlocked. To solve this, I’ve tried various things: setting a “hot corner” to trigger my screensaver, which requires my password be typed, or manually switching to the login window. (Many Windows users are used to hitting the Windows key plus “L” to temporarily “logout” but Mac OS X doesn’t have an equivalent feature built-in, although there are some possible work-arounds.)

The biggest problem with all of those solutions? They require me to remember to do something. Which I usually forget to do.

Although it’s technically possible to use the gorgeous IPS display in the 27-inch iMac as a standalone monitor, the feature’s been pretty limited in practice, since it only works with other DisplayPort devices like the unibody MacBooks. That’s about to change thanks to Apogee, which just posted up a video demo of an as-yet-unnamed HDMI-to-DisplayPort adapter being used to play Xbox 360, PS3, and — yes, it’s true — Blu-ray movies on Apple’s latest all-in-one. Never thought you’d see the day, did you? Apogee hasn’t disclosed pricing or availability yet, but we’re told more info is coming soon –we’d guess sometime around CES. Video after the break.

Continue reading Blu-ray comes to the iMac… via an Apogee HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter

‘Tis the season shop until your brains melt (or skip it all entirely, depending on your interpretation of the term holiday). In that spirit, for the next few weeks we’ll be rounding up a dozen daily deals courtesy our friends at DealNews.com. Each afternoon tune in to TUAW for this handy summary. Keep in mind that while our posts will live on, the deals won’t. Each is lovingly generated by the deal-bot every day, so get ‘em while they’re hot. Enjoy!

iTunes Music Store: [iPhone / iPod Apps] App Store Price Drops: SketchBook Mobile, ReelDirector, Wolfram Alpha, more

There’s probably a number of reasons why this might have happened (and we’re sure you can come up with more than we can), but nevertheless, here you go: overall Mac sales are up by 21 percent in October and November since last year at the same time, according to Gene Munster (not pictured), analyst at Piper Jaffray. Desktop Mac sales are especially huge, with the rise as high as 74%, which seems like a typo next to MacBook and MacBook Pro increases of just five percent. In fact, those gigantic desktop sales, some reason, might actually be the reason behind the recent iMac delays.

At any rate, no matter why, Apple is making a boatload on Macs this quarter already. Even without the bulk of the holiday season, the desktops were already flying off the shelves in huge numbers compared to last year.

Some contrition is better than none, we suppose, and upon being probed about lengthy delays on top of two-week shipping times for its slick 27-inch iMacs, Apple has this weekend tossed its expectant fans an overdue apology:

The new iMac has been a huge hit and we are working hard to fulfill orders as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience or delay this may cause our customers.

Uh oh! It looks like there’s shipping delays and availability issues with 27 inch iMacs. It’s reported that these delays could be due to graphics issues with the GPU. Several Apple resellers are citing shipping delays when trying to order the models.

Apple made a brief statement to CNET tonight acknowledging the delays, but iMacs are showing a two week shipping delay on Apple’s online store, which might mean you won’t be able to purchase one in time for the holidays.

We had a fun show last week, as we had a crowd of several TUAW team members; we were also joined (about halfway through) by our friend and frequent guest Ross Rubin of Engadget and NPD. The hour passed by with us mulling Apple’s Lala acquisition and what the company might choose to do with this newly bought expertise. You can download the shows direct from Talkshoe or subscribe on iTunes.

Tonight, we’re back live at 10 pm ET with the usual gang of ruffians, and at least two stories to talk about: the impending arrival of the Googlephone, and the unfortunate display problems and shipping delays for the 27″ iMacs. Of course, we’re happy to be detoured and derailed by your comments, questions and pontifications… but we won’t know about any of those unless you call in and join us.

Quietly unveiled alongside the 27-inch iMac and the Magic Mouse was this: Apple’s attempt to force the unibody construction that we’ve already seen used on its MacBook Pro into the lowly MacBook line. This 13-incher didn’t revolutionize Apple’s low-end laptop line, but it did add a pinch of style and an integrated “7-hour” battery while keeping the price tag steady at $999. We certainly had our fair share of gripes when testing this scuff-magnet out, but now that you’ve had nearly two months to toy around with your own, we’re anxious to hear what you’d do different next time. Is the build quality up to your standards? Are you still weeping uncontrollably as you search in vain for a FireWire 400 port? Is the 9400M GPU potent enough for you? Did this honestly deserve to be priced at a few hundies less? Feel free to unleash hot fury in comments below — maybe ole Steve will feel the heat.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, the public’s perception of the company was grim. To make a long story short, Steve’s plans for resurrection included changing that, and the “Think Different” campaign was among the first steps. There were television ads, print ads and slogans printed on Apple packaging.

The phrase was replaced with the “Switch” and “Get A Mac” campaigns, but didn’t disappear for good. A portion of the poem from the TV ad can be found on the high-res version of the TextEdit icon in Leopard and Snow Leopard. Earlier this year, “Think Different” began appearing on 21.5″ and 27″ iMac boxes.

A display, whether it’s a primary, extra display for a portable, or a desktop secondary, is something that’s very useful, and makes a great gift. Here’s a few gift ideas for displays to use with your Mac.

Dell ST2210