This was the week of our crystal ball gazing when we took a peek into a few possible futures for our favorite Cupertino company and came up with some pretty rad concepts. But that wasn't all that happened, not by a long-shot, so let's look forward to the future and back at the week that was in Mac|Life.
Features:
- The Future of Apple Design: AppleVision 2012 - Forget the wee little box that is AppleTV, we're talking big big big box as Apple takes a page from Google's TV and breaks out the wide flat screen with AppleTV cooked right in with all your iMac goodness as well. If anyone can bring our digital entertainments under one big umbrella and make it work it's that Steve Jobs feller.
- The Future of Apple Design: 2013 iPad 3D - Once upon a time, the idea of a pocket gizmo that played movies, music, let you read books, play games, and make telephone calls was the stuff of science fiction. 3D has taken off huge and we imagine that Apple has noticed this and has a few prototypes in the mix somewhere. And you know it won't be on stage with Steve unless it's totally wickked.
- The Future of Apple Design: 2015 MacBook Eco - When Greenpeace got on their case Apple got busy greening up their tech and this is clearly the next direction where technology needs to go. Of all our prototypes, we have to say this is the one that seems the easiest to implement in the near-term.
- The Future of Apple Design: 2017 iScroll - Magical thinking? Again, see ten years ago and see today. Who knows what advances down the road will make this flexible when needed, stiff when needed portable computer your go-to device?
How-Tos:
- How To Turn Your Old Mac into a Boxee Media Server - We've all got old gear lying around collecting dust that we don't want to get rid of "just in case." Well have we got the absolute perfect just-in-case scenario for you and we think you're going to find using your old iMac as a Boxee media server a lot cooler than using is as a dust catcher.
- How To Make a Last Minute Christmas Keepsake with iPhoto '11 - This is it! The last week, the big push! It's now or never on Christmas stuff and we've got the tip that'll let you quickly push out Christmas keepsake photos for those schmoes you work with when you're stuck for a last minute gift.
Reviews:
- To Market, To Market: Farmville Versus Smurf Village - It was the epic showdown of the virtual agrarian world. Who would come out on top? Would it be Zynga's long-established king of all farming games, or would blue and wily newcomers from PopCap steal the throne? You'll have to read on to find out.
- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Review - If there were a more popular massively multiplayer online game than World of Warcraft, we must have been asleep for the last few hundred years, just like the dragon Deathwing, whose release has leveled what you knew and changed everything.
News:
It's apps apps apps and more apps this week as things were 'appening all over the place...for instance, the Mac App Store is set to open its doors on January 6th...meanwhile, Apple gave us a little more lovin on our iBooks with collections and printing...and if you're a reader, Flipboard upgraded their fine beauty of an app, which adds Flickr and Google Reader and all kinds of stuff users have clamored for...also fulfilling users dreams, NHL GameCenter unlocks GameCenter Live for streaming game video and more...speaking of streaming, how about some SlingPlayer Mobile upgrades for the iPhone? Sounds like a plan...and we are ready to stuff your stockings with some appiness with Christmas freebies...but, wait, there's even more, though not all of these are necessarily free apps, but they're good for Festivus even...and if you need help finding where to go this holiday season, where's that work-related holiday party, should you go TomTom or Navigon for all your turn by turn directions? We have the answer...or you could use Google's Latitude and find your friends and their wacky holiday party, as long as they're checking in.
