You can’t always obsessively check Macworld.com throughout the day, much as you might want to. Rather than fret over what important stories you may have missed, catch up on our biggest stories from the week with another edition of the Weekly Wrap. To make the experience even more enjoyable, grab some of the candy you bought to give to trick or treaters—we think you deserve it more.
The headlines
Quiet as a ghost, Apple updated its MacBook Pro line with speedier processors and better graphics performance. But if you want to talk about really exciting Apple hardware releases, don’t miss the new, more vibrantly-colored iPad 2 Smart Covers.
On the software side, Apple released more firmware updates than you can shake a stick at, unless you’re capable of shaking a stick at precisely four firmware updates.
Macworld Expo is dead! Long live Macworld | iWorld, the renamed annual conference organized by IDG World Expo (which in turn is owned by Macworld parent IDG).
We reported on another Mac-attacking Trojan horse, though this one hasn’t been seen in the wild much. Kind of like Gil Amelio. Speaking of former Apple CEOs, the company posted a video of its Steve Jobs memorial service, which includes speeches from current CEO Tim Cook and senior vice president of industrial design Jonathan Ive, along with musical performances from Norah Jones and Coldplay—as if the event weren’t depressing enough already.
The iPhone 4S went on sale in 22 more countries, although mine still hasn’t shipped yet, so thanks for nothing, Liechtenstein. And on the new software side, we covered the launches of Pixelmator 2, the Bloomberg TV+ iPad app, and Codify, which lets you build iPad apps on your iPad. If you prefer your summaries in horror movie styles with Halloween so close, think of it this way: The app is coming from inside the iPad!
Reviews and Opinions
Cold hard facts are fine. But sometimes we like to mix in a little subjectivity too.
Last Sunday marked the iPod’s tenth anniversary. We weighed in on how it changed the world of music, and how it became a cultural force. Later in the week, yours truly wondered whether iOS’s evolution will mirror OS X’s.
And all week long, we reviewed a slew of apps and hardware.
LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt Series 2TB—if you’re wondering how a drive can be both little and big, remember that Thunderbolt’s icon is lightning… The whole thing is a paradox;
Jetpack Joyride—an iOS game as fun as its name is alliterative;
TV.com—an iOS app that makes it easy to watch shows from CBS and the CW, which is either its best or worst feature;
LetterMPress—which didn’t fail to impress;
Fantastical and Moom—two Mac apps so nice we wrote about them twice, and at the same time;
Photo Academy—which suffers from a disappointing lack of Michael Winslow; and
Crazy John—a zombie game that, unlike the sweet taste of human brains to the undead, fails to keep you coming back for more.
Hints, how-to’s, and tutorials
We offered tips on creating comic art with the iPad, exporting iPad artwork, and shooting great sports photos—just make sure you’re shooting with a camera, or things can get messy.
We can also help you find Mail messages in Lion, import camera videos directly into iMovie ’11, and troubleshoot a battery-sucking iPhone 4S.
If you need a helping, multitouching hand, our iOS Basics guide for navigating on your iPhone and iPad is worth a look.
And if you’re into Lion taming, don’t miss our hints on fixing a file-opening hang or changing application categories.
That’s all for this week, dear readers. May all your bags be candy-filled, and all your trees stay toilet paper-free.