MacShrine

MacShrine is officially returning to the Mac web from today! We took a break for what seemed like forever, but now we’re amped up and ready to return. Some of our older readers will remember that we launched back in 2005, so our 5th anniversary on the 1st November 2008 is just a few weeks away. To celebrate we shall be launching a total redesign and many new features that will remind you why we were one of the best Mac websites.

Thank you for all your support and here’s to the future!

As Apple promised, today they have released the new iPhone 2.1 firmware this morning. The iPhone 2.1 firmware contains the following updates:

- decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
- significantly improve battery life for most users
- dramatically reduced time to backup to iTunes
- improve email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
- faster installation of 3rd party applications
- fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
- improved performance in text messaging
- faster loading and searching of contacts
- improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
- repeat alert up to two additional times for incoming text messages
- option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
- Genius playlist creation

The 2.1 firmware is listed as build 5F136 and can be directly downloaded through iTunes. The new firmware also contains a number of security fixes including the well publicized passcode flaw.

O2 today confirmed that they are in the process of a $1 billion 3G network upgrade in the UK in preparation for the new 3G iPhone in June. The new iPhone will feature 32GB and a new thinner, black plastic enclosure.

To tell you the truth, we’re just not that interested in Apple anymore. Sure we still love all their products and go crazy when they come out, but our poor little minds have clicked and don’t seem to register these stories off new Intel chips as “rumors”.

We’ll hopefully come back properly at WWDC this year where we seriously expect to be WOW-ed. Thanks for your continued readership. If you have any ideas how we can cater to your Mac needs (that no doubt other sites have no taken from us) do let us know. We’re not going anywhere, we’ve been here 5 years and plan to stay at least another 5, we just need some kinda restart.

Paul McCartney has signed a $400 million deal with Apple for the distribution of the entire Beatles’ back catalog on iTunes. Under the deal, the money will be distributed to Ringo Starr, the families of George Harrison and John Lennon, Michael Jackson, EMI and Sony, along with McCartney getting his share as well. It appears that this deal is NOT exclusive to iTunes. Not the smartest move by Apple, how are they going to make back all that money? If you already have all the Beatles tracks, why would you buy them again?

From the 1st February, O2 will raise the tariffs for iPhone users in the UK. Those on £35 per month will move up to 600 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited UK internet; £45 per month will move up to 1200 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited UK internet; and £75 per month will move up to 3000 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited UK internet.

MacRumors has handed over the domain MacBookAir.com to Apple. Rightly so! No mention if they were paid anything or not.

Apple rumor site, ThinkSecret, issued a statement today indicating that they would no longer be published due to terms of a confidential settlement with Apple.

Apple and Think Secret have settled their lawsuit, reaching an agreement that results in a positive solution for both sides. As part of the confidential settlement, no sources were revealed and Think Secret will no longer be published. Nick Ciarelli, Think Secret’s publisher, said “I’m pleased to have reached this amicable settlement, and will now be able to move forward with my college studies and broader journalistic pursuits.”

We will miss ThinkSecret. They were one of the sites that inspired us to start up back in November 2003. I think this case puts into perspective what a community the Mac web is and MacShrine will strive forward against Apple’s wish to knock us back.

There are now more and more reasons why you would want to switch to a Mac. Macintosh computers are becoming a more and more appealing alternative to Windows computers, and here is why:

1. Beauty – Mac hardware and software is amazingly beautiful. The hardware of a Mac is sleek, shiny and clean. It is modern, light and looks great compared to some of the ugly cases that most computers come with. Mac software also looks great; it comes with a similar style to the computer itself, light, sleek and shiny. Mac software is pleasing on the eye and the Mac OS itself has a great interface. It is easy to find what you want using the glossy and well organised interface.

2. Easy – While many Windows users are put off with changing to Macs because they think that they won’t be able to use it. It is actually far easier to use a Mac than it is to use a Windows PC. While it may take a few days getting used to it is easy to learn. The whole interface of a Mac is organised in such a way that it is easy to find the setting you want or the feature you want to use. Continue reading »

AppleInsider has reported more sightings of slender “dark grey” or “gunmetal” colored notebooks. Could these be the rumored lightweight MacBook Pros or just a revamp for the rather chunky consumer MacBooks?

Though noticeably thinner but otherwise similar in size to the company’s 13-inch MacBooks, the notebook appeared to have a metallic sheen to it, which set it apart from the current black MacBook.

Microsoft’s Hilton Locke, who used to work on the Tablet PC team and now works on the Windows Shell team, let Pocket.info know that if you are impressed with touch on the iPhone, then prepare to be blown away by the touch features of the upcoming Windows 7.

“I will say that if you are impressed by the “touch features” in the iPhone, you’ll be blown away by Windows 7. Now if only we could convince more OEMs that Windows Touch Technology is going to drive their sales.”

Goldman Sachs analyst David Bailey notes that Apple will launch 2 new iPhones and and updated Apple TV next year. We can expect a “bumped” up version of the existing iPhone in January, a revamp for the 3G iPhone expected in the second half of the year and then an updated Apple TV with bigger storage and and LCD display.

Google today announced that they have launched a new web-based application for the iPhone that integrates its multiple services into a single interface. The new application is based on AJAX/Web 2.0 and is launched when an iPhone user visits Google.

Google is taking advantage of browser technologies (like AJAX) that made Gmail and Google Maps possible. In supporting these advances in web technology, the iPhone’s Safari browser not only delivers an excellent mobile Internet experience; it enabled our product and engineering teams to create an optimal Google experience on a mobile device.

Okay this is rather embarrassing, we forgot our own birthday! MacShrine was started on 1st November 2003 and so celebrates its 4th birthday erm, a week or two ago. Just wanted to thank all of our readers over the years and we promise to kick the site into gear sometime, it is a bit boring nowadays. So again, thank you thank you!

To be in compliance with a court ruling, Deutsche Telekom announced today that they will immediately start selling an unlocked iPhone without contract for 999 Euros. The iPhone will still be sold, as before, with 2 year contract for 399 Euros. Bloomberg reports that customers who purchased the iPhone in Germany after November 19th may have their iPhone unlocked for free. Existing German iPhone customers can reportedly also receive the unlock for a fee. Would you pay 3 times as much for an unlocked iPhone?

Apple has released their first update to Leopard today. The 10.5.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac. The final build number of Mac OS X 10.5.1 is 9B18. Grab it now from Software Update or Apple.

Seems Apple hyped up the European launch a bit too much. The iPhone which launched on Friday sold just 10,000 in Germany and the UK sales look set to be similarly miserable. We don’t know about Germany, but here in the UK there was no promo for the iPhone at all. No TV ads, no posters, nothing in newspapers. The only way you could possibly know that the iPhone was coming out was either if you knew about it already or had passed by an Apple Store, O2 or Carphone Warehouse. Shame really.

Update: Okay, we take that back as we just saw an advert now on Channel 4 during The Simpsons for the iPhone.

Yay.

So finally after 2 years it’s ready. Apple will officially release Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard tonight worldwide at 6pm. They do seem to have broken their own ship date as many customers have already got them delivered to them as far back as Tuesday and shops in the UK ignored the instructions and started selling copies this morning. We’re waiting for the launch though, for anyone who has it - how is it?

Ars Technica is reporting that Apple is in the midst of expanding iTunes Plus to include indie labels and to drop the price of all iTunes Plus songs to $0.99. Apple will keep the old “protected” songs at $0.99. It is said that the price drop is a response to Amazon’s new MP3 Store which has been very popular since it’s launch 3 weeks ago.