Hardware
Logitech Bluetooth Easy - Switch Keyboard K811
Bluetooth Easy - Switch Keyboard K811Logitech ’s $ 100keyboardis the ideal keyboard for an Apple drug user , thanks to its Mac - matching plan , groovy key , a standard fundamental layout , and a nice batch of particular - subprogram key for both OS X and iOS . Both ? Yes , both , because the Easy - Switch distich with Macs and iOS devices — and even Apple TVs . In fact , it mate with up to three such devices simultaneously , get you switch your active Bluetooth connection between them with a simple key press .
The Easy - Switch is smaller and lighter than Apple ’s Wireless Keyboard — it ’s sodding for flip in your laptop computer udder — and it offers better key feel and skilful compatibility with iOS equipment . It even sports movement - aerate backlighting for type in murkily lit environments , a feature that many a Mac exploiter has wish well Apple ’s Wireless Keyboard offer . ( The K811 ’s internal battery charges via USB . ) It ’s the most capable and versatile Mac keyboard we ’ve seen .
OWC Envoy Pro EX SSD
Envoy Pro EX SSDWhat ’s smaller than a portable hard ride , heavy than a thumb private road , and really , really fast ? OWC ’s $ 289Envoy Pro EXexternal strong - body politic effort . Typical SSDs have the same dimensions as a 2.5 - in laptop computer punishing drive , but the Envoy Pro EX uses OWC ’s Aura Pro SSD , which is build more like a Aries module than a effort chemical mechanism .
Small , fashionable , and swift , the USB 3.0 , bus - powered Envoy Pro EX is an passing portable drive . Weighing 3.8 Panthera uncia and measuring 0.4 inch thick , 2.1 inch wide , and 4.5 inches long , the Envoy Pro EX is about the sizing of an iPhone . It offer 240 GB of solid - state capacity , and it mail some of the fast AJA - benchmark write speed we ’ve seen ( even faster than many single - drive Thunderbolt units we ’ve tested ) . Other zippy , flimsy driveway have followed , but the Envoy Pro EX readjust the bar for us .
Apple iPad Air
iPad AirHow do you amend the best tablet on the market ? Make it faster and more capable . How do you make it lustworthy all over again ? Make it smaller , flimsy , and lighter without sacrifice barrage life history or strength , and without raising the price . That ’s theiPad Air($499 to $ 929 ) , the fifth generation of full - size iPads .
Apple has taken everything people have intercourse about the 4th - generation iPad — Retina display , cracking performance , thin profile , solid build — and improved on it . The Air has twice the overall carrying into action and up to four time the graphics performance . Toss in Apple ’s M7 motion coprocessor , multiple mike , dual speakers , an improve front camera , better worldwide LTE compatibility on the cellular mannequin , and the same telling battery spirit as on the previous iPad , and you have a killer auto .
And the Air is littler : Looking much like an oversized iPad miniskirt , the Air is 22 percent thin , and a shameful 30 per centum more compact overall .
Apple iPhone 5s
iPhone 5sWhen Apple’siPhone 5s($199 to $ 849 ) was released this past fall , we were n’t peculiarly excited — the Apple rumour John Stuart Mill had gotten almost all the details right on : Faster CPU ? tally . Better camera ? Yep . Gold - coloring option ? Yup .
Still , the 5s gave us a nice minuscule thrill when we got our paw on it . The handset is , as usual , a ok bit of Apple applied science . compare with the iPhone 5 , it had enough new hooey to keep us interested . For one , it had that Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the Home button . The camera pick up a lot of nerveless raw tricks , such as Burst Mode and slow - apparent motion television , as well as an improved sensing element . It had a faster CPU and , yes , it came in gold ( though many of us choose “ place gray ” ) . It was a fulfil evolutionary footstep up from the iPhone 5 .
But if you promote from an iPhone 4s , it was more of a quantum leap . ( And give the two - year contracts these thing total with , an awful lot of us are in that boat ; in some way , the veridical point of comparison for a new iPhone is the modeling that debut two years before . ) Compared with the 4s , the 5s is like a phone from the future . It ’s six or seven time quicker than the 4s ( and only double as fast as the iPhone 5 ) . Its battery lasted 3 hour longer ( 11 hours , 3 minutes ) in our tests than the 4s ’s , or an hour and a half longer than the 5 ’s .
In other words , the 5s came out as the best iPhone yet — and one of the good products of the year .
Adonit Jot Script
Jot ScriptWe’ve go over many stylus over the years , so it ’s no surprise that we have a few favourite . Adonit ’s $ 75Jot Scriptis our newest compulsion , offering users a 1.9 mm credit card neb with the company ’s fresh Pixelpoint technology for extra - precise written material .
hold in conjunction with Evernote , the Jot Script has subtle nod that tie it to that company — chief of which is Evernote ’s Penultimate app , which has been optimized for the stylus . It ’s an incredibly impressive playpen for writing on your iPad or iPad mini , though unoptimized apps may be offset a few pixels . It does expect Bluetooth 4.0 , which intend that you ’ll want an iPad 3 or afterwards , a first - multiplication iPad mini or later , or an iPhone 5 or later to use the style .
Even with limited support from equipment and third - company apps , however , the Jot Script is an excellent tool for the programs it does support , and it ’s the best first appearance in the stylus market yet .
Kindle Paperwhite ( second generation )
Kindle Paperwhite ( second generation)The first version of the Kindle Paperwhite brought ebook substance abuser what they ’d been asking for : an Amazon e - lector you could interpret in the shadow without clipping on a Christian Bible light . Its main failing was screen lighting that many people found uneven . Thenew modelis equally illuminated , with increased contrast that makes E. B. White whiter , total darkness blacker , and text and project much crisper . The Christ Within itself is also much warm than the previous translation ’s cooler blue hue . Page turning is faster . And new software lineament such as Page Flip ( for flipping to a different part of a Bible ) , in - line footnotes , and improved parole lookups add to the recitation experience .
Bottom melodic phrase : The Kindle Paperwhite is the good electronic - ink Kindle yet . ( $ 119 with special offers , $ 139 without special offers . )
NEC MultiSync EA294WMi
MultiSync EA294WMiThis year see the presentation of 29 - inch ultrawide display with 2560 by 1080 resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio . One such monitor ( instead of two smaller single ) lets you use a single connection from your computer , and have your eyes scan left to right continuous .
NEC ’s $ 799 MultiSync EA294WMi was the best of four ultrawide displays wereviewedthis yr . It offer LED backlights , a high - caliber IPS panel , and six connection types : DisplayPort , HDMI , DVI - D , individual and double link , and VGA . It also hold up MHL , which lets you colligate your compatible Android gadget to the display ’s HDMI port .
NEC include a four - port USB 2.0 hub and integrated speakers , too . But what set the EA294WMi aside from its ultrawide rival is its exceptionally flexible stand , which offers stature adaption , tilting and swiveling , and even pivot into a very marvellous portrayal orientation .
Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500
ScanSnap iX500If you ’re dreaming of reducing paper clutter and move around physical files into searchable digital documents , Fujitsu’sScanSnap iX500($495 ) make doing so prosperous than ever .
The image scanner see like the democratic ScanSnap 1500 m that it replaces , but it has a fast and more reliable paper - feed mechanics ( up to 25 two-fold - sided Sir Frederick Handley Page per arcminute ) . It has built - in Wi - Fi and an intimate processor that change over the scan to JPEG or PDF to reserve skim directly to your Io or Android phone or lozenge .
The ScanSnap Manager software package ’s people of automatic configurations run big for straightening crooked scans and eliminating blank Page . you may keep your scan to brochure on your Mac , to cloud services like Evernote and Dropbox , or to email or a pressman .
Seagate Wireless Plus
Wireless PlusWith Seagate ’s $ 200 portable external drive , theWireless Plus , you could well get at 1 TB of storage with your iOS twist or even your Macs . It connects via Wi - Fi , so you do n’t have to worry about packing a cable , and it can countenance you get to the Internet while you ’re connected to the drive . The iOS apps are loose to use ( you employ a WWW interface on a Mac ) , and you’re able to pullulate videos direct from the parkway .
Whether for storing video and picture on the go or for back up information , the Wireless Plus is ready to hand to have .
Next Sir Frederick Handley Page : Software Eddy winners
Software
Agile Bits 1Password
1Password 4The latest version of Safari in OS X Mavericks now has iCloud Keychain for password direction , but we ’re still big lover of AgileBits ’ 1Password foriOS($18 ) andMac($50 ) .
The Mac variant makes it prosperous to access or create passwords , either through the app itself , through the Mac bill of fare legal community , or in a internet browser with the 1Password extension . 1Password can also sense when you ’ve created login credential and will ask you if you need to store them in the app . Sync your data to Dropbox , iCloud ( Mac App Store version only ) , or use the local Wi - Fi sync , and you ’ll have access to the login data on your iOS gimmick . All your data is encrypted , so you do n’t have to worry about prise eye .
Other parole managers may have downhearted prices , but 1Password put up the best compounding of convenience and security that we ’ve seen .
Frogmind Badland
BadlandThe side - scrolling platform video game has date a revival late thanks to the iPad and iPhone , and Frogmind ’s $ 4Badlandis a meridian good example of how a tried - and - true formula can revel unexampled biography with an infusion of creativity .
While it ’s easy to control your avatar , you ’ll run into object to dodge , clones you have to lead , traps you must invalidate , and more . Powerups can serve you get past difficult situations , but if you do happen to fail , you simply resume at a checkpoint that ’s ordinarily not far away .
Badland is so well make , so well put together , that you ’ll discover yourself having a operose clock time put the plot down .
Surtees Studios Bartender
BartenderSome Mac apps — the iWork suite , say — do a lot . Then there are little apps that do one affair . But if that one affair is worth doing , elegantly and expeditiously , that app can be Eddy - worthy .
That ’s why we ’re recognize Surtees Studios ’ $ 15Bartender . It organizes the software icons that clutter your fare legal community . Actually , Bartender supervene upon the menu - cake ikon you prefer with just one icon : its own . chatter that ikon , and you get a submenu cake filled with all the icons you ’ve chosen to hide . So you get two fare bars — a main one and a secondary one . you may stuff all those menu - bar item you do n’t need steady access to in Bartender ’s grinder - bar , out of deal and out of the elbow room .
mixologist is dim-witted to use and does its line of work without muss or tizzy . All you see are few card - legal community icons . That makes Bartender one of our pet apps of the year .
SuperMegaUltraGroovy Capo 3
Capo 3SuperMegaUltraGroovy ’s $ 30 app , Capo 3 , is a superuseful tool for musicians need to ascertain and toy along with Sung repose in their iTunes library . Capo lets you slack down ( or speed up ) the tempo of a Song dynasty without changing the pitch of the tune to sound as if either Alvin the Chipmunk or the Grim Reaper were on lead vocal . But sales pitch and pace manipulation are just some of Capo ’s handy features . The late adaptation of Capo for Mac adds clever robotic chord recognition , allow you to start strum almost instantly .
Capo ’s automatic chord detection is n’t perfect , but it wait on as a outstanding starting period . If you notice a song that has n’t been recognized to your gratification , it ’s gentle enough to situate . We discovered that slowing the song down to 3/4 speed and tapping 1 - potassium every clip there was a chord change would greatly improve the truth of Capo ’s chord detection .
The chord that Capo recognise and writes out are not restrain to guitar . Capo can pen out the chord for ukulele , mandolin , and bass guitar , as well as multiple substitute guitar tuning . Capo can even write out the chords base on whether the player is using its namesake , a capo , on the guitar neck opening . Pretty awe-inspiring .
Capo makes hear new songs quick and sport , and its power to write out the chord fingering of multiple instruments lets you easily begin playing along to the call in your iTunes subroutine library .
Agile Tortoise Drafts
tipple 3You probably pen in unlike apps . But sometimes you may begin before you ’ve decided where your gem will stop up . Or perhaps you jump a text message that ’s better fit for email .
That ’s where Agile Tortoise’sDrafts($3 for iPhone , $ 4 for iPad ) comes in . The app is a snap - all bucketful for typing messages , jotting down ideas , storing templates , and doing matter with that text when it ’s quick . Launch Drafts , and you’re able to protrude typing justly away ; the on - screen keyboard offer up special keys for format text and links and using plebeian symbolization . Your drafts even synchronise across your iOS gadget .
Once you ’ve finished your message or document , then you process it . you’re able to send it to another app on your iOS gadget ; netmail it ; write it to Dropbox or Evernote ; post it to Twitter , Facebook , or other societal media ; and much more .
If you work out with text regularly , Drafts belongs on your iOS twist .
Flexibits Fantastical 2
Fantastical 2 for iPhoneThe built - in Calendar app in Io still ca n’t vie with Flexibits $ 5Fantasticalfor ease of use . The simple interface shows you a traditional five - day or month calendar at the top , with a scrolling list of all your approaching event below . It ’s easy to research all your calendars and quickly jump to any day of the month to see what you ’ve catch on pat .
But the pavilion feature film is its natural - language case - origination organization . When creating a new case , you just type ( or speak , using Io ’s command characteristic ) a description of the event , such asstaff coming together every other Tuesday at 1 postmortem examination in elbow room 500 — grotesque converts your verbal description on the fly front .
Fantastical 2 also widens its calendar - app spark advance by add maps to upshot position , meliorate invitation feature film , notifications , event sharing , and other young or improved features .
Iter9 Frax
FraxFractals describe the mathematical structure of lifelike patterns find in objects like snowflakes , leaves , clouds , and even line of descent vessels . Self - replicating and scalable , each fractal iteration is a copy of itself , so as you zoom in or out , the design looks similar .
Iter9’sFraxfor iOS ( $ 2 for iPhone , $ 4 for iPad ) replicates the fractal experience as an extremely immersive and creative app . It ’s a marvel of numerical wizardry , but you ’d never know that to look at it . Frax is gorgeous , fun , and endlessly intriguing . It use the gyroscope and accelerometer of your mobile machine to let you create and control fractal designs . It is the first 2D fractal app to use tilt - to - steer movement and a range of touch - establish gestures : castrate lighting with a swipe , augment textures with a twist , and zoom along with a series of tap .
Frax is ever dynamic and constantly animated in rendering and refining the art and scientific discipline of fractal design .
The Fullbright Company Gone Home
Gone HomeA game ’s graphics may be dazzling , but how it uses its graphic , storey , and gameplay to conduct the tone it wants to set is more crucial . That ’s how The Fullbright Company ’s $ 20Gone Homesucceeds .
As Katie Greenbriar , you try out to work out out why your home is ostensibly forsake . The audio recording and graphics make an atmosphere that add to the tension . you’re able to finish Gone Home in a few hours , but it ’ll be time well pass .
Quote - Unquote Apps Highland
HighlandWriting is hard . write a playscript or screenplay can be hard . That ’s why we likeHighland , Quote - Unquote Apps ’ minimalistic $ 30 screenwriting instrument . Highland offer writers a unobjectionable , unadorned blank space to process on their screenplay .
All Highland file are save as unmixed text , allowing you to open them in just about any program on your Mac , PC , or iOS gimmick . you’re able to even spell your PDFs and Final Draft file into the app for leisurely redaction , and then export them back into their original formats for further piece of work .
Certainly for those in the film industry , this app is more than worth its price .
IFTTT
IFTTTThe iPhone is an invaluable tool for many of us , but when you ca n’t quite bend it to your will , IFTTT ( free ) may be just what you need . This app and the Web service of process it has grown out of are as close as you ’ll likely get to AppleScript on your iOS twist .
The idea behind IFTTT ( “ If This Then That ” ) is elementary : If something encounter , do something else . If you desire the pictures you take with your iPhone uploaded automatically to Flickr , IFTTT can bind . desire to have Gmail content labeled as “ To Do ” added to Io ’s Reminders app ? No problem . IFTTT supports dozens of Web services , in addition to iOS ’s own Reminders , Photos , and Contacts .
Creating “ recipe ” is a snap : piece a trigger and an action , and IFTTT does the wakeless lifting — the app has a surprising amount of baron , with more in the Web service . Or browse IFTTT ’s directory of user - submitted recipe .
Apple iPhoto 2.0
iPhoto 2.0 for iOSWith iOS 7 as the fundamental chemical element of Apple’siPhoto 2.0 for the iPhone and iPad , even some old feature finger unfermented , and that ’s what makes the updated version of iPhoto for iOS a joy to use .
reading 2 also has a turn of fresh features . The most obvious update comes from the newfangled OS , dismantle away old - fashioned skeuomorphic visual cues , those recognizable objects like picture albums or leather grain . iPhoto 2.0 for Io also work faster and wise than last year ’s debut version , as innovative engineering science shifts the burden of trope delete from the machine ’s processor to the GPU for smoother performance .
The unconscious process of editing images has not changed much . actual updates come in the signifier of new projects and sharing capabilities such as mark ordering and book conception , shared video recording streams , enhanced beaming , AirDrop functionality , and incorporating Apple Maps for geotagging .
Photo streaming now allow for you to share with specific masses and lets sept and friend lend to shared streams . With an operative iCloud account , you may also publish a diary or slideshow to a webpage . ( $ 5 ; destitute to premature iPhoto owners and with a Modern iOS gimmick . )
Black Pixel Kaleidoscope 2
Kaleidoscope 2Black Pixel ’s $ 70 filing cabinet - comparing utility for the Mac may not seem a large hatful to everyday users , butKaleidoscope 2can be a vital part of a developer ’s work flow .
The app put up three different modes for comparing files : Blocks , where differences are color - coded ; Fluid , which also utilise people of colour but link each color cylinder block with line to help you see how a single file has develop ; and Unity , where you may see change between files in a single stream .
Kaleidoscope 2 also allow you compare look-alike to see differences when creating a drug user port . Developers will appreciate Kaleidoscope ’s power to integrate with other developer tools .
Stairways Software Keyboard Maestro 6
Keyboard Maestro 6A pecker for superpower users , Stairways Software ’s $ 36Keyboard Maestro 6is a macro program that let you piece together activity and discharge them off , one after another , with a variety of gun trigger .
New trigger let in jack in a USB twist — a scanner or a USB thumb drive , say — and connecting to a particular wireless internet . We especially like the power to trigger Safari and Chrome actions . If you call for to configure the same Web forms repeatedly , you ’ll appreciate take that work automated .
Contrast Launch Center professional
Launch Center ProMany things we do on our iPhones we do often and repeatedly . Contrast ’s $ 5Launch Center Protakes the hassle out of these tasks by letting you create actions — distinct tasks based on an app or organization help . A task can be as simple as a button that found an app , but many apps permit Launch Center Pro to control them , and do specific tasks within them , using specially formatted URLs .
Via those URL — or Launch Center Pro ’s Action Composer — you may assemble actions that , with a release rap , let you do mutual task such as creating a preaddressed email message ( or emailing a grouping ) , or create a admonisher . Actions can also be more complex . For illustration , Launch Center Pro can — with one tap — upload your most late photo to Dropbox , call back the exceptional Dropbox universal resource locator for share that picture , and copy that URL to the clipboard .
Apple Logic Pro Adam
Logic Pro XWithLogic Pro X($200 ) , Apple makes a professional digital audio workstation useable at a starving player ’s price . And the improvements in version go are significant . Apple has made Logic easier to use through a shake up port .
The new Drummer running makes drum caterpillar track sound man - made . bass part players get their due with amps and effects antecedently reserve for guitar player . Keyboard players may do good most thanks to a satisfying collection of traditional keyboard instruments — the Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes electrical pianos , clavinet , Hammond B3 organ , and fertile analog synthesizer models . The Smart Controls let you adapt instrument parameter and effect with practical knob and slider . In addition , the free Logic Remote iPad app rent you master many features from across the studio .
hover
LoomApple ’s iCloud servicing provides many great perks , such as Photo Stream . But Photo Stream has limitations — it offer no literal way to organize images , for instance . brood , though , allow you store up to 250 GB of photos and video in the swarm , sync and consider them with your Mac and iOS devices , and organize them into folders .
The service offers 5 GB of free space to all user , much like Dropbox , with 50 GB and 250 GB plans costing $ 4 and $ 10 a month , severally . you’re able to use that space to hive away JPGs , PNGs , altogether single file , and video ; Loom permit you upload from any of your iOS devices or your Mac , allowing you to add together mental object from almost anywhere .
After uploading that material , you may organize it into brochure and subfolders and reckon it on any of your devices at an appropriate ordered series — for example , if you ’re consider an image on a Retina iPhone , the resolve will differ from see it on a Retina iPad , saving you costly cyberspace bandwidth . Sharing images or a full album is also fairly well-fixed . It ’s a great service .
Brett Terpstra nvALT
nvALTBrett Terpstra ’s free text editorstands outbecause it makes creating and finding bare - text notes as simple as possible . When you open it up , you see two athletic field : a unified box up top where you may name Modern banknote and search for old ones , and a text - entry field below that where you do the school text editing you came for . That plan decision — to make produce new notes and finding old ones as simple as potential — makes nvALT unparalleled .
nvALT lets you catch school text swiftly and easy . Its context - carte du jour exposed With choice lets you promptly send notes to other text editors . Because of that , and because it can sync via Simplenote or Dropbox , this app can become the center of powerful unmingled - text workflows . It ’s unlike anything else we ’ve seen .
Creaceed Prizmo
Prizmo 2Creaceed ’s $ 50applicationtakes image antecedently captured on your iPhone , point - and - shoot television camera , or DSLR , and release the scans into editable text using its built - in OCR engine .
If you confiscate an iPhone or iPad to your Mac while Prizmo is on and active , picture you take with your iOS gadget will show up mechanically in Prizmo ’s software window . The app also works with scanners lacking OCR capability . Prizmo can capture text from images in webpages and on the desktop , too .
Days of Wonder Small World 2
Small World 2Combine Risk with the full encyclopaedia of fantasy tropes , and you get mean solar day of Wonder ’s $ 10 territory - conquest game , Small World 2 . You and your antagonist take on the parts of elf , orcs , wizards , trolls , and more , try on to stake your title to hills , mountains , swamps , forests , and so on — but yield the size of the eponymous realm , you ’ll soon discover that it ’s not giving enough for all of you .
The game ’s replay value amount from its randomization : It has more than a dozen dissimilar race to play , as well as more than 20 special powers that are mixed and matched . ( Through in - app purchases you may add even more race and exponent . )
In its late significant update , the game has at last brought asynchronous online play with up to four friends , in addition to local play over the web , slide by - and - play , and financial backing for head - to - head for two players on the same iPad . If you call for to perfect your acquisition , you may always take on up to four AI players . Small World 2 is one of the most compelling games for the iPad .
Henry Smith Spaceteam
SpaceteamIn Henry Smith’sSpaceteam , you and up to three Quaker are crewmembers on a starship trying to break away a rapidly exploding whiz . Only by working together will you keep the ship from being destroyed .
Each of you has your own mastery panel . Commands are printed on the screen , which you must relay to your teammates ; the instructions might be terrene ( “ Empty the trash ! ” ) or more complicated ( “ set up the fickle flushclamp to 6 ! ” ) . Fail to hit the right control on time — or off the haywire one — and your ship gets that much faithful to its impending doom . And that ’s before you divisor in humiliated panels , asteroid , wormhole , incomprehensible labeling , and more . The high a level you reach , the faster your reflexes must be .
Spaceteam is free ; you just take one to three Quaker with similarly equip iPhones ( or Android earphone ) .
Bare Bones Software TextWrangler
TextWrangler 4.5We employ many text editing and word processing tools atMacworld , but none as indispensable as Bare Bones Software’sTextWrangler . Version 4.5 adds a Go computer menu that have you the chronicle of a papers ’s creation , the ability to see alteration from a previous version and integrate them into your current document , and much more . And it ’s free .
