Latest Posts in Macworld Podcast

Mac hardware, tested and reviewed

Posted by Philip Michaels on

1 comment

Things slow down in the Mac universe just before the holidays, but the Macworld office is still hopping in the wake of last month’s hardware updates. We’ve completed our reviews and testing of the latest Macs—putting our revamped Speedmark benchmarking tool to work—and we spend much of this pre-Thanksgiving Week edition of the Macworld Podcast discussing Mac minis, iMacs, and other machines.

I’m joined by senior editors Dan Frakes and Roman Loyola, who reviewed the new Mac hardware, and lab director James Galbraith, who put them through their Speedmark 6 paces. We get the final word on what Apple delivered with its October hardware updates.

It’s not a Macworld Podcast, of course, until we spend some time talking about the App Store. Editorial director Jason Snell stops by with a first-hand account of the vagaries of Apple’s iPhone app approval process.

Download Episode #175

• MP3 version (16.7 MB, 46 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Got any feedback on this podcast? Send regular podcast host Christopher Breen an e-mail; audio comments in the form of an AAC or MP3 file are particularly welcome. You can also leave us a message at 415/520-9761 if you’d like to have your comments included in a future podcast.

Show Notes

Be sure to read Roman Loyola’s review of the three 3.06GHz iMacs and Dan Frakes’ Mac mini review. (We don’t spend much time addressing it, but Apple also updated the white MacBook in October; we’ve got a review of that laptop.) You’ll also want to check out our introduction of Speedmark 6, as well as the work that went into preparing the new benchmark tests.

In our App Store segment, Jason Snell gives his account of the effort it took to bring Macworld’s iPhone Superguide to the App Store. And lest you think we’re the only ones to run into App Store approval problems, this past week has seen Rogue Amoeba drop iPhone app development while Apple reversed course on a political caricature app it had previously rejected.

Sponsor

Speaking of Superguides, this podcast is brought to you by Macworld Superguides.

Virtualization and iPhone jailbreaks

Posted by Christopher Breen on

3 comments

In all the hubbub surrounding the release of new Macs you may have missed the Windows 7 release. Yeah, yeah, we’re Mac users and so who cares? Well, if you’re one of those people who needs Windows for work but prefers to use a Mac, maybe you do.

In order to use Windows on your Mac you require either Apple’s Boot Camp or some variety of virtualization application. And it’s just those applications that are the focus of my interview with senior editor Rob Griffiths. The major players in this market—VMWare and Parallels—have released new versions of their applications and Rob’s spent time with both. Tune it to hear his opinions.

After a word from Macworld Superguides, senior contributor, Ben Long, and I discuss the state of iPhone jailbreaking. Apple has closed a security hole in a recent iPhone update and that’s forced jailbreakers to seek other means of entry. Ben and I talk about whether jailbreaking is safe and still worth the bother.

Download Episode #174

AAC version (21.3 MB, 43 minutes)

MP3 version (20.4 MB, 43 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Got any feedback on this podcast? Send me an e-mail or an audio comments in the form of an AAC or MP3 file. You can also leave us a message at 415/520-9761 if you’d like to have your comments included in a future podcast.

Show Notes

I begin the episode with a reading of my Eight Steps to Internet Unpopularity. If you’re a troll, nitpicker, endless promoter, grudge holder, or simply clueless, you’ll want to give it a listen.

Rob’s taken a look at both Parallels Desktop 5 and VMWare Fusion 3. He also reviewed Sun’s VirtualBox 2.1.4 last spring. We touched on Boot Camp, but failed to mention that, according to Apple, Snow Leopard isn’t yet ready to tackle Windows 7.

During my talk with Ben I mentioned that the App Store has 100,000 apps. I wasn’t making that up. I also plugged Ben’s book, Complete Digital Photography for good reason. It’s outstanding. You’ll absolutely be a better shooter after reading it.

This episode is sponsored by Macworld Superguides. Follow this link for a discount on the just-released Total Snow Leopard Superguide.

New iMacs and more

Posted by Christopher Breen on

1 comment

In this week’s special-edition episode we look at the “two” in the week’s one-two punch—Monday’s spectacular quarterly earnings and today’s raft of new Apple hardware.

Editorial director Jason Snell (who I briefly demoted at the start of the discussion) visited Apple at the crack of dawn to take a peek at that new hardware. Senior editor Dan Frakes and I join Jason in our under-construction South Bay Bureau to talk about what he saw.

Download Episode #173

AAC version (13.9MB, 29 minutes)
MP3 version (13.3MB, 29 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Show Notes

We’ve already published a boatload of stories about today’s announcements—many of them penned by Jason. Check out:

Jonathan Seff has more on the latest MacBook with a first look at the redesigned laptop.

Keep both eyes peeled for reviews of this gear in the coming days.

Tweetie 2, iMovie, and Snow Leopard

Posted by Christopher Breen on

4 comments

Now that the excitement surrounding the release of Snow Leopard and the unveiling of new iPods has dissipated, it’s time to shift our gaze from Apple proper and focus instead on broader issues.

We do exactly that in our interviews with Atebits’ Loren Brichter—creator of the surprisingly-controversial-in-some-quarters Tweetie 2—and Macworld’s own Rob Griffiths.

Associate editor Dan Moren mans the mic for the Brichter interview while Rob and I chat amiably about iMovie ’09 quirks, Snow Leopard tips, the iPhone as a sporting companion, and the possibility of new Mac models in the near future.

Download Episode #172

AAC version (22.7MB, 47 minutes)
MP3 version (21.6MB, 47 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Show Notes

Mr. Moren has followed the tempest-in-a-teapot that is Tweetie 2 and its pricing in his Tweetie Pricing Fuss Highlights App Store Flaw. That article has raised a ruckus in our forums. If you care to add to that ruckus, read the article and throw in your own 299 cents.

Rob and I make a very brief reference to his recent video efforts—Six Snow Leopard Tips and Six More Snow Leopard Tips. Each is worth your time. You’ll also want to keep up with the latest Snow Leopard tips that pass before Rob’s eyes at Mac OS X Hints.

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Macworld Superguides.

Mac Pundit Showdown IV

Posted by Philip Michaels on

2 comments

Normally the Macworld Podcast is a sober, carefully constructed affair. But apparently it's fallen off the wagon. With “unfunny!” (—iTunes review) Macworld Podcast host Christopher Breen indisposed, his “obnoxious!” (—iTunes review) replacement takes the wheel for a game-show podcast that's full of sound effects. You heard us right. It's time for a fourth edition of Macworld's Mac Pundit Showdown, our blatant rip-o… er… homage to the excellent BBC radio program Fighting Talk.

In this edition, Macworld’s Roman Loyola, along with PC World’s Nick Mediati and Wired’s Mathew Honan match wits as they field questions from their cruel quizmaster. Plus Editorial Director Jason Snell grabs Roman’s microphone and makes him cry like Taylor Swift.

Download Episode #171

AAC version (12.6 MB, 25 minutes)
MP3 version (12.1 MB, 25 minutes)

Show Notes

If you’re wondering exactly what’s going on here, we explain it all in the show notes to our original Macworld Fighting Talk podcast. Fearing wrath of BBC lawyers, we soldiered on when we did our second installment, re-dubbed Mac Pundit Showdown. Macworld Editorial Director Jason Snell won both contests, proving that it's good to be the boss.

Mat would like it very much if you bought his book—also available for the Kindle!—especially since we dock him points for shameless self-promotion.

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

Apple's iPod and iTunes updates

Posted by Christopher Breen on

11 comments

Wednesday’s It’s Only Rock & Roll event saw the return of Steve Jobs to the stage, a new version of iTunes with a boatload of features, more-colorful iPod shuffles, faster and higher capacity iPod touches, a video camera-equipped iPod nano, and no Beatles music.

In one of our punchier podcast episodes, I discuss these issues and others with editorial director Jason Snell and senior editors Jonathan Seff and Dan Frakes.

Download Episode #170

• MP3 version (23.2 MB, 48 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Show Notes

Throughout the podcast we discuss what was announced at the event. Among them:

iTunes 9;
a slightly updated iPod touch;
barely refreshed iPod classics and shuffles; and
far-more-enhanced iPod nanos.

I had a chance to get my hands on an iPod nano immediately after Apple’s presentation. For far more information on everything iPod, visit our iPod topics page.

Sponsor

Jason makes an impassioned plea for our very own $2 App Gems app. We threatened to put it in the Show Notes and, by gum, we’ve made good on that threat.

The future of smartphones

Posted by Jason Snell on

1 comment

Next week we'll have a special Macworld Podcast focusing on the aftermath of Apple's forthcoming music event in San Francisco. But for this week, we change it up a bit, and spend the better part of an hour with analyst Michael Gartenberg. He's a smart guy who spends a lot of time and brainpower covering a smart market—smartphones.

Every time I think I've sussed where the smartphone market is going, I stop and ask myself, “I wonder what Gartenberg thinks about this?“ And so in this interview, you'll find me asking him a lot of questions along the lines of, “Can you tell me why what I believe is totally wrong?“

If you're interested in the future of the iPhone and some smart tech talk in general, I think you'll enjoy this chat with one of the more savvy followers of the tech industry today, Michael Gartenberg.

Download Episode #169 (19.4 MB, 54 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

All about Snow Leopard

Posted by Christopher Breen on

13 comments

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard ships on Friday. But we can talk about the weeks we’ve spent with Snow Leopard now. And talk I do with a star-studded panel of Macworld editors including editorial director Jason Snell, senior editors Dan Frakes and Rob Griffiths, and associate editor Dan Moren.

Download Episode #168

AAC version (21.7 MB, 45 minutes)
MP3 version (20.6 MB, 45 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Show Notes

We touch on all the major areas of Snow Leopard, many of which we discuss in greater depth on Macworld.com. To see everything we’ve done in regard to Snow Leopard, visit our Snow Leopard topic page.

If you seek individual stories written by many of the people who participated in this discussion, check out Jason’s Snow Leopard review and Inside Snow Leopard’s Under-The-Hood Additions, Dan Moren’s Inside Snow Leopard’s Hidden Malware Protection, James Galbraith’s Gauging Snow Leopard’s Speed Boosts, and 11 Major New Snow Leopard Features and Snow Leopard’s Smaller Changes, each put together by the Macworld staff.

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Macworld Superguides.

Apple news and e-book lock-in

Posted by Christopher Breen on

0 comments

Though we await the big events of autumn (Snow Leopard, the reality/illusion of an Apple tablet, and the expected iPod refresh), Apple news never sleeps. And because it doesn’t, we devote the bulk of this episode to the hot topics of the past two weeks.

In our first interview, associate editor Dan Moren and I discuss Apple raising its skirts over an iPhone dictionary application, Apple’s defense of same, the rejection of Google Voice, Eric Schmidt’s departure from Apple’s board, and the ephemeral nature of clouds.

After a word from Audible.com, senior editor Peter Cohen discusses the state of e-book readers and their content.

Download Episode #167

AAC version (21.4 MB, 45 minutes)
MP3 version (20.5 MB, 45 minutes)

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

Show Notes

While discussing John Gruber, we made mention of his ascendance to King of the Apple Geeks. (Apparently The Business Insider’s Dan Frommer has the power to bestow such titles.) You can read Gruber’s original words regarding Schiller reaction here.

Peter’s comments are based on his article Do We Really Want Vendor Lock-in With E-Book Readers?

Sponsor

This podcast is sponsored by Audible.com.

Mac Pundit Showdown III

Posted by Philip Michaels on

3 comments

Normally the Macworld Podcast is a sober, carefully constructed affair. But our sober, carefully constructed host, Chris Breen, is on vacation. And when the cat's away, the mice will make a game-show podcast that's full of sound effects. That's right. It's time for a third edition of Macworld's Mac Pundit Showdown, our blatant rip-o… er… homage to the excellent BBC radio program Fighting Talk. In this edition, Dan Frakes, Roman Loyola, and Chris Holt match wits as they field questions from their cruel quizmaster, Philip Michaels.

Download Episode #166

MP3 version (12.2 MB, 35 minutes)

Show Notes

Brian Lam of Gizmodo apologized to his parents about Steve Jobs.

See just why Dan Frakes had to swallow his pride when he talked about the mythical mid-range Mac minitower.

Those with delicate eyes look away: these are Roman's headphones.

You can find previous episodes of our audio podcasts at Macworld’s podcasting page.

To subscribe to the Macworld Podcast via iTunes 4.9 or later, simply click here. Or you can point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://rss.macworld.com/macworld/weblogs/mwpodcast/