Apple’s new Mouse, Trackpad and Keyboard — Apple’s new Magic Mouse 2 isn’t really that much different from the original Magic Mouse. It has major changes that affect how the mouse moves and a new built-in battery but nothing to make you ditch your current mouse.
The Magic Trackpad 2 is shockingly large and blindingly white and looks kind of a like a futuristic thing you’d find in a high-tech kitchen.
The Magic Keyboard is, is a pretty nice Bluetooth keyboard that charges with a Lightning cable. Whether that’s worth Apple’s somewhat steep US$99 (NZ$189!) asking price is up to you (keep in mind Apple’s older, now-defunct Wireless Keyboard was only US$69), but the Magic Keyboard is slim, compact, and pleasant to type on. [Can’t beat my Apple wired extended keyboard. That numeric trackpad is great for gaming and Final Cut, Logic, and it never runs out of batteries or needs recharging – and it costs NZ$95.]
Spec showdown: Surface Book vs. MacBook Pro, from cheapest to priciest — If there was any doubt which product Microsoft was gunning for, the spec sheet makes it abundantly clear. A look at each device’s tech specs reveal plenty of similarities, including price points, screen size, battery life, and storage. It’s almost as if Microsoft designed the Surface Book to match the speeds and feeds of Apple’s pro-grade laptops — and then go just a bit further with a detachable touch screen and stylus support. [But the biggest difference isn’t noted: only one of those systems can run Mac OS; both can run Windows.]
Apple’s Pages upgrade for Mac OS X is better than hoped — Dennis Sellers reckons Apple did a fine job in upgrading its iWork apps — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — for Mac OS X. “I was beginning to fear the utilities were suffering from neglect, but, thankfully, I’ve been proven wrong. The Pages upgrade is especially sweet (of course, it is the iWork app I use the most).”
Six reasons Apple Notes still can’t replace Evernote — With iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, Apple finally bulked up its minimalist note-taking apps. The upgrades are welcome, but the latest Notes apps aren’t going to persuade many people to give up Evernote, OneNote or even Google Keep.
1Password to change file formats after key file found to contain unencrypted data — 1Password makers AgileBits have promised to change one of the default file formats in the software in response to a blog post by Microsoft engineer Dale Myers, who revealed an AgileKeychain file was displaying unencrypted metadata.
Earning a third as many paid users as Spotify in under 4 months, Apple Music already a hit, FBR says — Less than four months after it launched, Apple Music already has 6.5 million paid subscribers, or nearly a third of the 20 million who pay for Spotify, a service that has been around since 2008, investment firm FBR & Co. said on Tuesday.
Apple Maps integrates select Amtrak routes, Boston area transit directions — A month after Apple debuted transit directions in its Apple Maps service for US and Chinese (mostly) locations, the company has added selected Amtrak train arrival and departure data as well as local support for Boston.
Apple’s Tim Cook to join group of corporate leaders tackling Chinese environmental problems — Apple CEO Tim Cook is joining the CEO Council for Sustainable Urbanization, a group formed by the Paulson Institute and the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in order to divert the environmental impact of China’s urban growth.
Mac NZ 