Apple Updates iTunes and Apple TV Software

It will be a busy week for Small Dog. We have already hit the cut-off for UPS ground and USPS shipments to guarantee arrival by Christmas and the stores are jammed packed from opening until we close the doors. While we certainly appreciate the business, I hope that you take some time this holiday season to put away the technology and just share some time with your friends and family as we rush towards the end of 2010!

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
_Don, Ed, Kali & Ben_

This Wednesday, Apple rolled out an update for its popular ‘iBooks’ e-reader app. The app, which is universal across compatible iOS devices, gained a host of new features including AirPrint support. Additionally, Apple introduced an organizational tool called “Collections,” and the ability to view fully illustrated books.

In previous versions of the app, users with sizable libraries were forced to scroll through shelves of books to find the title they sought. This could prove especially tedious in thumbnail view. With Collections, users can group their books by genre–or however they see fit–into manageable shelves. Navigating between Collections requires only a simple swipe to the left or right of the screen.

Though the newly enabled AirPrint support does not afford you the ability to print your purchased iBooks, you can use the feature to wirelessly print PDF documents or notes from within the app. As previously mentioned, the update also enables compatibility with fully illustrated books. These titles range from classic children’s stories, to art and photography books. Today alone, Apple released over 100 new titles in the illustrated books category. While these high resolution images look fantastic on any iOS device, illustrated books look especially amazing on the iPad’s spacious screen, and the razor sharp Retina displays of the iPhone 4 and 4th gen. iPod touch.

If you do not already have iBooks installed on your iOS device, it is available for free “*here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fapp%2Fibooks%2Fid364709193%3Fmt%3D8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30

One of the joys of using OS X is discovering useful little features on a regular basis. I frequently hear this from new Mac users, but it’s just as true for me–and I’ve used a Mac daily for more years than I care to relate. These “new” discoveries are often old news to other Mac users.

For example, in the Apple Mail program, I always thought that the little curling arrow next to an email you’ve replied to was simply a visual cue saying “hey, you replied to this email.” However, it’s actually a button. When you click the little curling arrow, the original email that you replied to opens. This makes digging through an email chain a bit less cumbersome.

This is something that everyone else at Small Dog seemed to know about, but again it was new to me. It makes me wonder what else I’m missing and have yet to discover. And for me, that’s part of what keeps the Mac fun to use!

Apple, yesterday released a “*PR document*”:http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/12/16macappstore.html announcing that the Mac App Store will open Thursday, January 6. Utilizing a similar business model to the current App Store, (soon to be dubbed the iOS App Store?) the OS X application will surely change the ways in which programs are installed, updated, and managed on the Mac.

Just as Apple revolutionized the mobile industry with the opening of the original App Store in 2008, the Mac App Store is poised for the same levels of success. Navigating developer sites or Apple’s own downloads page for applications, will soon be a thing of the past. With a selection of paid and free apps in a wide variety of categories, the Mac App Store will make discovering and installing new apps easier than ever. As all transactions are tied to an Apple ID (the same one used for iTunes purchases) users will simply have to log in to begin downloading content.

Perhaps one of the greatest strengths of Apple’s new platform is its ability to effortlessly manage updates. If you have a large number of traditional 3rd party applications installed on your Mac, you know it can be a serious pain to keep them up-to-date. Similar to its iOS counterpart, the Mac App Store will alert you whenever updates become available, and allow you to easily install them. Steve Jobs offered the following on the new store:

bq. __”The App Store revolutionized mobile apps. We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making, finding, and buying PC apps easy and fun. We can’t wait to get started on January 6.”__

Though the Mac App Store is an important innovation for several reasons, among them is the glimpse of the future it offers. With Apple slated to sell much of their traditionally disc-based software digitally, the new commerce platform may indicate the death of optical media is nigh. It is safe to assume that if other major developers begin to follow suit, we might not be seeing software sections in electronics stores for very much longer. Digital distribution is undoubtably the wave of the future.

If Apple can execute the Mac App Store to the same level of polish and success it has achieved on iOS, it will cause serious waves in the software industry and usher in a new era of content distribution and acquisition. Kiss those discs goodbye, my friends!

When the Mac App Store launches next year, it will be available as a free download through Software Update. Stay tuned and we’ll provide you will all of the details as we learn more.

Do you think the store has enough potential to mark the imminent death of physical media? “Leave your comment on our blog and let us know!”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/apple-announces-january-6th-mac-app-store-launch/

_Dear Friends,_

Someone tried to put a damper on our holiday spirit as both of our Vermont stores suffered break-ins and robberies this week. My staff reacted fantastically by both cleaning up the mess of broken glass and displays and by continuing to provide great customer service to the busy stores, even as the doors and windows were being repaired. Shoppers were very sympathetic and we continued to operate while we tried to recover from the thefts. Other Apple Specialists across the country offered their help, too, and we are very proud to be part of such a strong network.

We have to change our mindset a bit based upon these robberies. We are operating a jewelry store and the jewels are iPods and iPads. There seems to be an increase in thefts this time of the year, and even normally safe Vermont seems to have gotten its share of drug-related property crimes. Through our associations with the Vermont Retail Association and VBSR, I have found expert consultants to help us respond to this new threat.

The weather has definitely turned into winter with snow and cold temperatures as we head into the final week before Christmas. As we had predicted, the hottest gifts for the season are iPads, iPods, Apple TV and the new 11-inch MacBook Air. The growth of the iPad market is simply spectacular as it makes its inroads from homes into businesses and government. My attorney called me the other day to tell me that he had used his iPad in court and it was the first time, to his knowledge, that an iPad was used during a trial in Vermont.

I am pleased to announce that we are introducing Hammerhead stylus pens for iPad, iPod and iPhone. While we considered manufacturing gloves with sensitive fingers for the winter months here in the North Country, we felt that introducing our own selection of these styluses would be a better solution, especially for those who wear mittens! We have three styles available immediately. The first is a pen-like stylus, the second is a slim retractable stylus with an integrated sim card pin under the cap and the last is the Stubbie stylus that can be tethered to your iPod, iPhone or iPad by the headphone jack.

“See them all here!”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=hammerhead+stylus