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Gestures: Hard To Use, Harder To Find
The Most Brilliant Laptop You'll Never Buy
Google Chromebook Pixel: Awesome, Just Not $1300 Worth of Awesome
Quickly Convert Image Formats With Preview (Or ToyViewer)
Use Preview in OS X Lion OR Mountain Lion To Digitally Sign Documents
CloudClipboard Lets You Sync Your Clipboard Across Devices Via iCloud
Gestures: Hard To Use, Harder To Find
MacWorld's Kirk McElhearn says its nice that you can tap-and-drag on your Mac's trackpad, swipe on your iPhone, or pinch on your iPad, presenting a change from the old keyboard-based approach to computing. But he says as gestures multiply, he's come to find them confusing, and to realize that rather than simplifying his use of computers, phones, and tablets, they make it more complicated.
[Editor's Note: Let me second and amplify that observation. I don't like gesture user interfacing, never have, and don't anticipate warming to it in the future. I've learned a minimum of what's necessary to get along with on the iPad, but would much prefer a mouse or trackpad. As for using gestures with a Mac - not interested. Ed.]
For Kirk McElhearn's full commentary, see:
http://bit.ly/Zxntae
The Most Brilliant Laptop You'll Never Buy
TechCruch's MG Siegler says Google's pretty but expensive Chromebook Pixel laptop's touchscreen display surprised him by how nice it is, but it comes with a price.
He says the Chromebook Pixel is a brilliant device, handsome and well-made with solid build quality, and a trackpad that comes very close to the MacBook's
However, he finds that he virtually never touches the screen, it being easier to just manipulate on-screen elements using the trackpad where your hands already are and observes that using a touchscreen on a clamshell laptop is a figurative pain that may lead to a literal pain.
Also, the cooling fans kick in frequently and the Pixel still gets uncomfortably hot compared with his MacBook whose fans rarely come on, and presumably related -- battery life of the Pixel is disappointing, and he predicts that few will buy this device because of the $1,299 and $1,449 (for the LTE version) prie points being in iPad and premium Ultrabook territory.
For the full review, click here:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/26/not-quite-pixel-perfect/
Google Chromebook Pixel: Awesome, Just Not $1300 Worth of Awesome
Gozmodo's Andrew Tarantola agrees with TechCrunch's Siegler, noting that if the Chromebook Pixel's touchscreen display display doesn't make your jaw drop, the price tag will.
He notes that Google says the Pixel is built "specially for power users who have fully embraced the Cloud," but in the real world few folks beyond those already heavily invested in Google's online services, or Google fanboys, actually meet that definition, and that the Pixel is an awesome laptop saddled with an albatross of a price tag, contending that even if the limited potential functionality of Chrome OS didn't turn you off, paying $1300-1450 for it probably will, observing that even given as much time as he spends on the Internet, dropping $1300 or more on a system that does only that, no matter how well, is extravagant.
Your editor agrees with both reviewers. At their traditional $250 -$350 price range, Chromebooks present an attractive value for the money. $1300 - $1500 Chromebooks don't.
For the full review, click here:
http://bit.ly/15NxZ1v
Quickly Convert Image Formats With Preview (Or ToyViewer)
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler says that Preview program in OS X may be a quick solution if you need to convert a single image or group of images from one format to another. Preview supports reading most common image format types, and likewise allows you to export them to these same types, so even if Preview is not set to be your default program for handling images, you can still use it to quickly make image conversions.
However, your editor finds the wonderful little freeware app ToyViewer a quicker and slicker tool than Preview for image format conversions and resizing, as well as a number of other functions. You can download ToyViewer from the Mac App Store here:
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/toyviewer/id414298354?mt=12
Developer Page:
http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~ogihara/software/OSX/toyv-eng.html
Use Preview in OS X Lion OR Mountain Lion To Digitally Sign Documents
CNET's Jason Cipriani notes that printing a document, signing it, scanning it and then e-mailing it back to someone is a hassle. However in OS X Lion's Preview app added a feature that will allow you to digitally sign a document using Preview.
You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/onOtij
CloudClipboard Lets You Sync Your Clipboard Across Devices Via iCloud
CloudClipboard allows users to sync their clipboard content between Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, providing an easy way to copy content from your mobile device to your computer and back.
Store and edit texts, links and images:
You can store texts, links, images, phone numbers, messages. Edit it as you want and send it back to any app on your device.
Auto-paste from system clipboard:
With auto-paste, your system clipboard content is automatically pasted to CloudClipboard.
Copy in background:
With multitasking, anything you copy in any other app will be stored in CloudClipboard. No need to manually launch the app and paste.
Works lightning fast:
Paste an item on one device, and it will be available on all of them, with the speed of lightning.
Use your existing iCloud storage:
When you sign up for iCloud, you automatically get 5GB of free storage. And that's plenty of room, because of the way CloudClipboard stores your content in iCloud.
New in Version 1.1
New Features:
- Menubar Icon Option
- Launch at Login Option
Improvements:
- OS X 10.7 Support
- Growl Support
Bug fixes
[Editor's note: Too bad it doesn't support Dropbox as well. Some of us aren't iCloud fans, but would find this app very useful. Ed.]
System Requirements:
• OS X 10.7 or later,
• 4-bit processor
$4.99
For more information, visit:
http://bit.ly/WqeiG1
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