Macworld "Mark Hattersley"

Five iPhone games you'll play for more than five minutes

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:46:00 GMT

Regular Macworld readers might be aware that I'm something of a part-time gamer. Traditionally this has been something of a sideline because gaming and Apple don't exactly go hand-in-hand, but I figure it gives me a tech interest outside of Cupertino and that has to be a good thing.

Seven days with Bing

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Recently I saw a challenge on MediaWeek from Mel Carson, Microsoft's Advertising Community Blogger. "Use Bing for a week and let us know what you think". Normally I'd say no, but I've seen a few people using Bing and I love Twitter, and Bing is the first search engine to include Twitter results which could prove interesting.

Sony is all make.believe

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:30:00 GMT

Sony's new marketing message is dubiously honest, in a roundabout way. It's pretty much just publicly said: "we just make this s**t up".

Levels Apple would never stoop to in order to sell you a laptop.

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:42:00 GMT

MSI, makers of the MSI Wind netbook stooped to levels of desperation today that Apple isn’t able to contemplate, let alone implement. In what we can only describe as a desperate bid to populate the world with more cheap netbooks it has produced a viral marketing video that shows the laptops being throw – and caught – in a man’s rear-end.

Lessons to learn from MacBook pricing

Thu, 28 May 2009 11:28:00 GMT

Apple has once again thrown up the price of the MacBook in the UK. This time by a fairly substantial £30 to £749. This follow a price increase earlier in the year from £704 to £719. Actually this follows an even earlier price increase (then decrease) from £699.

Welcome to Apple's Pad

Tue, 19 May 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Weeks away from Apple’s mid-summer party known as the WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) and speculation is rampant regarding new product releases. One particular piece of gossip has scurried around more than others, and I think it deserves closer inspection – it’s a device that’s increasingly being known as the Apple Media Pad.

Terminator: Salvation set to redefine iPhone gaming

Sat, 02 May 2009 20:52:00 GMT

A video of the upcoming Termintaor: Salvation game for iPhone shows just how far the iPhone is coming along as a games machine. The graphics are remarkable; almost at the same level as current Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles; and the game seems to run smoothly. It could easily be running on a PSP.

Virus alert

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:57:00 GMT

I know it sound trite. But I don't get my software via The Pirate Bay so should I care about this botnet?

Reality bites

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:54:00 GMT

The silly season is upon us once again, and it's time for another round of predicting what product Apple plans next. Apple's cast-iron shroud of secrecy has prevented any leaks so far, although joining up the dots between known, and almost certainly known, facts reveals quite a lot about the iPhone 4G. Some are straightforward, but others point to a future for Apple's phone that is far from ordinary.

What if Apple never updates the iMac?

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:15:00 GMT

I’m serious. What if Apple has decided that the iMac that is currently on sale is the final update to the range. That’s yer lot kids… buy them until there’s no more left.

Spotify could kill iTunes

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:54:00 GMT

My, my! The music industry continues to evolve at a breakneck pace. The latest development hails from Sweden and is called Spotify. This has been in Beta for a while but is now available to any user in the UK. And it is well worth looking at.

I'm watching the Watchmen

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:33:00 GMT

Every so often you discover something so undeniably cool that you simply have to share it with others. Even if you’ve discovered it six months after everybody else, and therefore are so far behind the times that you might as well be wittering on about this cool new thing called Google.

Nintendo's Animal Crossing called gamers "nigga"

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:19:00 GMT

I turns out the Apple isn't the only company to have offensive content slip through its vetting process. Nintendo's big Christmas hit Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City has had to be changed at the last minute after reviewers discovered it included a racial slur.

Loving the MacBook Air

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:21:00 GMT

Will the MacBook kill the MacBook Air? Screamed a headline I read recently. "Er, no" was the rather sheepish answer. But the MacBook Pro is in serious danger of killing my back, and I've developed a newfound love of my Air as a result.

Glass trackpads: faulty or just different?

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:08:00 GMT

Apple's discussion forum is filling up with comments that the MacBook Glass trackpads are often unresponsive, sometimes not working for several clicks at a time.

Kirilling time

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

I'll admit it: I'm a bit of a sci-fi geek. It started with The Tripods, took hold during Star Wars, and I grew up with Asimov. I know my Space Opera from my Soft Sci-Fi, and my Cyberpunk, from my Steampunk – I know the vaguely pornographic sounding Hard Sci-Fi is anything but.

Why the Apple HDTV makes sense

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:15:00 GMT

As I write it is scant hours before another Apple event and the rumour mill has been grinding in its usual fashion. Amongst the myriad of myth, hearsay and misguided ideas is this little gem: "Apple is working on a networked HDTV". This, allegedly, comes from Jason Calacanis, Mahalo chief and former editor and reporter of the Silicon Alley Reporter.

Is it time for the MacBook mini?

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:16:00 GMT

I recently returned from the sausage-eating and tech slavering extravaganza that is the IFA Show in Berlin, and the lasting impression I got was the almost omnipotent presence of the small laptop.

IFA: Commodore stand

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:50:00 GMT

Imagine my surprise when as I took a stroll among the lower echelons of the IFA show I came across a stand for Commodore Computing. When I was young I owned just about every Commodore going. I had a Vic-20, Commodore 64, Commodore Plus/4, and Commodore Amiga 500.

IFA: First thoughts and OLED displays

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:28:00 GMT

I’ve arrived at IFA and am doing the rounds: looking at new products, doing a few interviews and collecting photos and press materials. I’ve also shot a few video clips and I may put some online soon.

Into the IFA

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:13:00 GMT

Just a quick note to tell Macworld readers that we’re covering the IFA show in Berlin. While I’ve been to many trade shows in the past, IFA is a new one to me so it should be exciting in many ways. It’s billed as “the world’s largest consumer electronics trade fair” (whether it’s bigger than CES remains to be seen though). I’ll be blogging from the show floor on Friday so hopefully will have lots of new products to tell you about.

Cleaning up the MobileMess

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Part of a stipulation of testing a product is that it works. I know it sounds ridiculous, but this was something that MobileMe spectacularly failed to do upon launch. The failure of a product to work as intended puts the reviewer in something of a difficult spot.

What's Apple got against the Contacts App?

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:59:00 GMT

I have this thing about incorrect images of the iPhone in Macworld, and it's got to the point where I want to give Apple itself a stern ticking off.

UK iPhone launch - in pictures

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:33:00 GMT

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well, doubtless, I'll be writing more than a thousand words on today's iPhone launch, but I thought this visual aid might just show the difference between last year's iPhone launch, and this year's.

How was it for you?

mark_hattersley@macworld.co.uk — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:30:00 GMT

If you're buying an iPhone 3G today, then I want to know how it went. Badly, is most people's experience. But let us know what it was like in your neck of the woods. Was there a queue? Did you get an iPhone 3G? How did the approval process go?