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class="alignright size-full wp-image-89556" title="Lion Internet Recovery" src="http://www.technologytell.com/apple/files/2012/02/lioninternetrecovery.jpg" alt="Lion Internet Recovery" width="400" height="315" />Apple has just released three new EFI Firmware Updates, all of which are meant to benefit 2010 models of the iMac, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. The main purpose of the updates is to add Lion Internet Recovery to these Mac models.

Release notes for each update follow:

MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 2.6:

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Pro (Early 2010) models.

MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update 2.3:

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on MacBook Air (Late 2010) models and addresses an issue where the system could restart if the power button is pressed immediately after waking from deep sleep.

iMac EFI Update 1.8:

This update enables Lion Recovery from an Internet connection on iMac (Mid 2010) models.

Lion Internet Recovery, a feature introduced into OS X with the release of Lion, allows users to re-download the entire operating system from Apple’s servers without having to go through the Mac App Store. This feature is most useful when access to the Mac App Store is unavailable for whatever reason, and a reinstall of Lion is also necessary for whatever reason. The feature was only available to the newest Mac models at first, but has been since added to older models through software updates such as today’s EFI Firmware Updates.

Via [MacStories]

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One of the minor details announced during yesterday’s Apple Event that perked me up a bit was the announcements of the new iPod nano. The 2011 iPod nano brings in some new features such as the revamped interface, the enhanced Nike+ app and the cute clock faces (which include a face with Mickey Mouse). I almost ordered the new iPod nano right there, but stopped when I read there’s a new software update for the device that brings the same features. So, I looked for my wife’s iPod nano and immediately synced it to iTunes. True enough, the iPod nano…

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Have an existing 2010 iPod nano but want the new Mickey Mouse watch face? Hold off on throwing your current music player in the garbage and hitting the Apple Store; an update is available now through iTunes that provides software features demoed on the new nano Tuesday for last year’s version.

Version 1.2 of the iPod nano software brings improved fitness features (which are better able to detect and track walking or running work outs), as well as the new single icon scrolling interface, which replaces the 4×4 icon grid. You can switch back to small icons or turn off home screen items altogether from the Settings menu.

Last but not least, you’ll get access to all the new iPod nano clock face options. There are 18 to choose from, so you shouldn’t get bored too quickly. I recommend the partial skeleton face with the exposed animated “movement” and second sub-dial.

The update adds a bit of customizability and some very useful features, so it’s a nice free bonus arising from Tuesday’s festivities for existing iPod nano owners. Go ahead and grab it now by plugging your iPod into your computer and opening iTunes. If you don’t get prompted automatically, just hit the “Check for Updates” button in the iPod’s info screen.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft
• Mobile App Developer Survey: Profiles, Platforms and Monetization

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Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, Originals

This week on the Free Apps Roundup: If you’re a DirectTV subscriber and an iPad owner, you’ll definitely want to check out the controller app that can schedule recordings, browse the guide and more. Musicians will appreciate Click Station, a more feature rich metronome. Then there are the ever-popular limited time freebies. There’s a timer, a music controller and a Seussified camera. What are you waiting for? Check it out.

• DirecTV – Now you can remote control your DirecTV service with your iPad. It gives you access to more information about the shows you’re currently watching and those you maybe should. You can change channels, set recordings and search the guide. What you can’t do is use it to stream content to your iPad. It’s still just a remote.
• Click Station – Need more than a metronome? Click Station may be just what you need. In addition to being a regular metronome, you can actually customize the clicks to your liking. No longer will you be forced to have but one setting on your metronome. It may even help get those creative juices flowing.
• Disney Second Screen: Bambi Edition – If you purchased Bambi on Blu-ray, you can enter your Disney Movie Rewards code into this app to unlock even more extra content. There are tons of images, flipbooks, challenges and more. Think of it as a different sort of Blu-ray extra.
• Dr. Seuss Camera – Who doesn’t love Seuss? No one. This app Seussifies your photos into one of 11 cards based on artwork by the Dr. himself. It’s currently free to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
• CarTunes – Here’s an app that makes it even easier to use your iPhone or iPod touch to play music in the car. Instead of looking for buttons to touch, you can use one-handed gestures to control playback. That should be much safer. This one is “50% off,” which thanks to fictional math makes it free for a limited time.
• TIMER : MIN TO GO – How do you improve on Apple’s built in timer? Here’s one way that’s pretty cool. It displays the minutes left on your timer as an app badge. Pretty nifty. Get it before they start charging again.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, Features, Appidemic

Living near Akron, Ohio, it’s not all that easy to find hockey information and highlights…especially for my favorite team out in Minnesota. Yes, I could pay for Center Ice or GameCenter Live, but as long as I’m getting instant scores, I don’t always need to watch the games. I had been relying on a combination of ESPN.com and the ESPN ScoreCenter app for this, but have now given NHL GameCenter 2010 a try. The verdict? Well, read on.

What is it?

NHL GameCenter is an ad driven score and stat app for the iPhone (you can get a $9.99 paid version for the iPad). Tapping the icons at the bottom of the screen pulls scores and upcoming games, league standings, news and, for one reason or another, All-Star Game specific information.

Each of these areas has its own specific features and settings, most of which are in the Scores section, of course, which is useful before, during and after the game.

How does it work?

You can tell NHL GameCenter to push scores and other alerts for all games, or just for the teams/games you specify in the setup area. This would be great, as I wouldn’t have to keep the app open during games. But the feature seems to break with a lot of the updates, often pushing more information than you want, or pushing the same alerts more than once.

That gripe aside, it’s handy for getting game previews and recaps (with photos, but no videos), and real time events during the game (shots, goals, hits, and penalties). This is all quite intuitive to set up, although the ability to swipe left and right between games and dates instead of tapping arrows would be much more conducive to iPhone use.

I like that accessing the Ice Tracker during games is a simple matter of rotating the iPhone horizontally when on the scores page. The drawback to this is that you can’t access Ice Tracker in portrait orientation, but it would be too small to be of use that way.

Is it contagious?

It would be if it weren’t so buggy. It tends to crash now and again, and the reliability of push notifications changes with each update. NHL GameCenter 2010 offers more detail than ESPN ScoreCenter for individual games, but you may not need all of it. The player and team info is helpful, but even there, Hockey:Stats is a much better app.

Still, NHL GameCenter 2010 for iPhone is free, and it’s a handy way to condense the information you’d normally have to grab from NHL.com. The design is clean and the UI is easy to navigate. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s enough to…well, it’s enough to have me considering a purchase of the $9.99 iPad version so I can get highlight videos and live game radio. I guess maybe that’s the point.

Category: Sports
Seller: NHL Interactive Cyberenterprises, LLC.
Cost: Free
Download: NHL GameCenter 2010

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FROM GAMERTELL – We’re a little late on this one, but there’s really not a lot to report as far as the iPad is concerned. Sure, we’re expecting to see iPad 2 in the coming months, but you’re probably sick of hearing about that all the time.
MORE »

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Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, Originals

This week on the Free Apps Roundup: You’ve heard rumors of an iPad exclusive periodical, and now it’s a reality. Can’t keep track of your favorite TV shows? No worries; there’s an app for that. Maybe you’re an aspiring guitarist, but you just can’t find the right chords. Yeah, there’s that, too, along with a bunch of other apps and games to keep you occupied for this weekend and more.

• The Daily – You’ve heard about it, now you can have it. The Daily is “the first digital news publication with original content created every day exclusively for the iPad.” It’s supposed to take the quality of a magazine and mix it with the real-time updates of a website. Essentially it’s supposed to be the best of all worlds. They’re promising 100 “pages” of original content every day of the year along with HD video, 360 images, interactive content and more. Your first two weeks are free. After that, just a dollar a week with Apple’s new subscription system.
• SideReel – Everyone loves TV. It’s a fact. This app creates your own personal TV calendar. It tracks the shows you watch, the ones you want to watch, when episodes you missed will air again…heck, it’ll even send you a notification when your show is almost on. If you have a hard time remembering when your favorite shows are on, you should definitely check out SideReel.
• TinkerBox – No, this is not a box containing Tinkerbell, though it might be even cooler yet. It’s a free-to-play physics puzzle game. And like any good game should, it teaches you basic engineering concepts and science facts along the way. You can build machines and share them online. Sounds pretty awesome to me.
• All Guitar Chords – Here’s a universal app that has a library of over 3,000 guitar chords. Not too shabby for a free app. Plus, the interface is pretty nice. Can’t ask for much more without paying.
• Weight Recorder – Yet another app to keep track of your weight. This one keeps records and graphs your progress over time. Keeping track of your weight is a good way to motivate yourself to keep up the diet and exercise program. Keep up the good work, or start.
• Tiki Golf HD Free – Try your hand at game of 3D mini golf on iPad or iPhone. It’s not just normal mini golf though. There are power boosts, ramps, moving platforms and more. There are 3 modes, 2 difficulties, 2 worlds and 18 courses. That’s should be enough to keep your occupied.
• Coin Dozer for iPad – Another coin pushing game. Apparently, these are pretty fun, though I struggle to find the enjoyment here. It’s a freemium game, so you can push those coins a little for free, and if you really like it, you can pay to push even more.
• Thermo – A thermometer and very little else. If you’re only going to do one thing, you’d better do it well. Thermo displays the temperature very well. It’s a color coded thermometer with some serious style. The ads may be a bit more obtrusive than you might like, though.
• Ping3D – Pong plus a dimension. It’s harder than it sounds. This one is universal.
• LEGO Minifigures Collector – I think we can all agree that LEGOs are awesome. This app challenges you to correctly match the heads, torsos and legs of 32 unique minifigs to add to your collection. It’s like a sideways slot machine with yellow plastic body parts. Sweet.
• BigBangGame – Despite the title, this is actually Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock. And while I truly love The Big Bang Theory, this game did not originate on it. The rules are simple: Scissors cuts Paper covers Rock crushes Lizard poisons Spock smashes Scissors decapitates Lizard eats Paper disproves Spock vaporizes Rock crushes Scissors. I, however, disagree. Logic always wins. Therefore, Spock always wins. Always.
• MasterCode – Remember Mastermind? This is that, only on iPhone and iPad. A simple game, though sometimes those are the most fun. It’s free for a few more days.

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps

ComboApp Marketing and Publishing agency has released the results of their Holiday App Awards 2010, a yearly gig wherein top iOS apps were subjected to vote by app users. Voted as the top iOS app was an avatar creator app called WeeMee Avatar Creator. This simple, fun app lets you make WeeMee avatars for yourself and your friends, upload and share them directly to Facebook and Twitter. The app also lets you use the avatar for contacts listed on your iPhone’s address book.

The contest, which run for a month, got more than 500,000 participants who voted for their favorite apps under seven awards categories. Winners were choosen for each category in addition to the overall champion app. Being the top app, WeeMee Avatar Creator will receive a full sales boost app marketing package courtesy of ComboApp. The other selected apps each won a full Post-Launch app marketing package.

The top Holiday Apps for 2010 are:

• Best Children’s Christmas App: SOS Penguin
• Best Christmas Game: Wood Puzzle Christmas HD
• “Made My Christmas” App: My Jeweler – A diamond and jewelry pricing calculator
• Most Innovative Christmas App: WeeMee Avatar Creator
• Most Entertaining App: Holiday Season 2010: iSocialize for Facebook, Twitter, SMS, MMS, EMO, and others
• Best Holiday Season Story App: Super MisterMind
• Best Mobile Christmas Tool: Days to Christmas lite

So, which apps did you download last Christmas?

Read [ComboApp Holiday App Awards]

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Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, iDevice Apps, Originals

This week on the Free Apps Roundup: Looking for a free alternative to Apple’s iMovie for iOS? Splice is just what you need. If photography is more your thing, Adobe pushed a great update to Photoshop. I found a bunch of free for a limited time games and the IRS’s app to track your tax refund that I’m sure you’re already on top of, right?

• Splice – Want Apple’s iMovie app for iPhone but don’t want to pay for it? Splice is the answer. The free version has ads, but it’s fully functional, including the ability to edit HD video by adding transitions, audio effects, borders, video effects, trim clips and even narrate a clip after shooting it. You can add music via your iPod library or some of the built in music and effects. This app is seriously powerful, especially when you consider the only difference between the free and paid versions is ads. There are even more add-ons that you can buy in app. But again, it’s quite functional without them.
• IRS2Go – From your favorite government agency, the IRS, comes an app that tracks your tax refund. In addition to keeping track of that refund, the app also makes it easy to connect with the IRS via email, Twitter and more. I personally want to connect with them as little as possible, but everyone is different.
• Adobe Photoshop Express – While not brand new, Adobe has pushed a significant update to Photoshop for iOS. It now supports Retina Disply, multitasking, new picture taking features and requires iOS 4.2+. If you don’t have another app to edit images on your iOS device, you might want to pick this one up just in case. You never know when you have to straighten, crop or apply a filter to a photo pronto.
• Ping Pong – Use your iOS device’s accellerometers and gyro to control a virtual ping pong paddle. Bounce the ball as many times as you can. Since that’s far too easy, there are powerups to tap on screen while you’re bouncing that ball. Free for now.
• Sunday Lawn – This game challenges you to cut the lawn. Seriously. I’ll never understand how manual-labor-based games appeal to some people, but hey, it’s what you like, not me.  There are three modes: challenge, arcade and bonus. While you’re cutting the lawn, you can collect stars and improve your rank. Wow. Soon you’ll be painting sayings into your lawns and trimming the hedges in the shapes of Disney characters. Get it while it’s free.
• Paper Glider – This app was officially the 10 billionth download on the App Store. You won’t get money for downloading it, but hey, it’s free, for now anyhow. The objective is to throw your plane out of the window. The problem is that there are fans and other useless office furniture in the way. Set your plane free today.
• Disc Pool – It’s like pool mixed with shuffleboard, mixed with I’m not quite sure what. You can play over Game Center and make it to the leaderboards or earn achievements by solving over 100 puzzles. It looks pretty slick and shouldn’t still be free, but it was the last time I checked, so give it a “shot.”

Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Laptops, MacBook Air

I’m a big fan of Apple Certified Refurbished products. Four of the last six Apple machines I’ve purchased—two notebooks and two iPods—have been ACR units (the other two were older used laptops). All four have arrived cosmetically indistinguishable from new and have performed flawlessly.

Anyway, if you fancy the new MacBook Air models (and who doesn’t?) and are not averse to saving some significant up-front money (15 percent), the first examples of that model have been posted on Apple’s Refurbished MacBooks page (for the link on the Apple Store homepage, scroll down the left margin column ). The entire MacBook Air model selection is not available yet, but if you can live with just 2GB of RAM (I recommend thinking carefully about that since memory is not upgradable in the MacBook Air), you can save $200.00 – $250.00 off the new prices on the two configurations available as of Monday morning. If you want one, it’s a good idea to make your move with dispatch. On Friday, an 11.6″ Air with 128GB SSD was also offered for $1,019, but it appears to have sold out already.

Another point that bears noting is that Apple Certified Refurbished products come with the same 12 month warranty that you get on new units, and are also eligible for purchasing AppleCare to extend coverage to three years.

Product [MacBook Air]

Full Story » | Written by Charles Moore for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »