Dan Frakes Senior Editor, Macworld
Dan writes about OS X, iOS, troubleshooting, utilities, and cool apps, and he covers hardware, mobile and AV gear, input devices, and accessories. He's been writing about tech since 1994, and he's also published software, worked in IT, and been a policy analyst.
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AirPlay is Apple’s technology for streaming audio or video over a local network. This week’s Macworld video gives you a quick look at the most common AirPlay setups and how to configure and use them.
Transcript
I’m Macworld Senior Editor Dan Frakes. AirPlay is Apple’s technology for streaming media over a local network. Specifically, it lets you stream audio from any Mac or iOS device to any AirPlay-enabled audio system, or video from an iOS device or recent Mac to an Apple TV. AirPlay works over any modern ethernet or Wi-Fi network—The sending and receiving devices just need to be compatible with AirPlay.
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Dan Miller Editor, Macworld
Dan is Macworld's Executive Editor and, thus, the senior Dan on staff.
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Today I wanted to give you a brief tour of a tool I’ve been relying on for a while to keep my email inbox under control.
A couple of months ago, I was moderating a panel where I interviewed some smart/savvy Mac users about their various workflows. In the course of that conversation, I found that every single one of them was using a service called SaneBox to keep their email in check. I hadn't heard of it before, so I decided to try it out.
Wheat, chaff
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Scholle Sawyer McFarland Senior Editor, Macworld
As summer arrives, kids across the land are spending time with the family iPad. In today’s Macworld Video, Scholle Sawyer McFarland shares some tips for making the iPad safer and more kid-friendly.
Video transcript
Perhaps your family shares an iPad or iPod touch, or perhaps your kids have gotten lucky and scored their own. Either way, before you hand over an iOS device to a kid, it’s a good idea to do a little parental preparation.
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Dan Moren Senior Editor, Macworld
Dan has been writing about all things Apple since 2006, when he first started contributing to the MacUser blog. Since then he's covered most of the company's major product releases and reviewed every major revision of iOS. In his "copious" free time, he's usually grinding away on a novel or two.
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Calling the launch of iOS’s built-in Maps app “underwhelming” might be generous. While I’d argue that Apple’s mapping efforts aren’t as bad as many people think, Google has certainly provided some stiff competition in the form of its Google Maps app for iOS. It can match many—but not all—of the features of Apple Maps, and Google’s databases of location information are arguably superior. There’s a reason we put it on the list of our apps that can replace iOS’s defaults on your phone.
In the video above, I take you on a quick walkthrough of the basic features of Google Maps, including location searching, business information, and directions—including one of its distinguishing features: public transit directions. Note that while Google Maps is currently only available on the iPhone and iPod touch, Google announced last month that the app would arrive on the iPad this summer.
Google Maps requires iOS 5.1 or later.
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Lex Friedman Senior Contributor, Macworld
Lex uses a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 5, an iPad mini, a Kindle 3, a TiVo HD, and a treadmill desk, and loves them all. His latest book, a children's book parody for adults, is called "The Kid in the Crib." Lex lives in New Jersey with his wife and three young kids.
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Apple’s built-in Calendar app for iPhone is fine, but I prefer Fantastical, a $5 alternative from Flexibits. Because the app can access your iPhone’s calendars, it essentially offers complete integration with any calendaring system your iPhone can use or sync with—including iCloud, Google, Yahoo, and Exchange calendars. I reviewed the app in November of last year, awarding it four mice.
In the video above, I offer up a quick tour of Fantastical’s core features. It features a scrolling list of upcoming appointments, instead of a more traditional grid approach. The app allows you to create appointments using natural language, and handles the scheduling automatically. And it offers fast built-in search, too.
Fantastical for iPhone requires iOS 5 or later.
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Christopher Breen Senior Editor, Macworld
Chris has covered technology and media since the latter days of the Reagan Administration. In addition to his journalistic endeavors, he's a professional musician in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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In this week’s tip, I’ll discuss a cool feature that you may be wholly unaware of—even if you're a long-time Mac user.
In Lion and Mountain Lion, click the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. Yeah, yeah, you’ve seen this before. But now click More Info.
In the old days, you'd be taken to System Profiler, and you’d see a fairly drab list of specs about your Mac—which you can still see in Mountain Lion by choosing Show System Report from the File menu. But now More Info offers a slicker view that puts your Mac’s most important information front and center.
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Scholle Sawyer McFarland Senior Editor, Macworld
You’ve probably ditched your paper dictionary, but do you know how to use OS X’s built-in one? This week’s video shows you how.
Transcript
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