O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: AirPrint

  • Mac OS X 10.6.5: What Will Change

    snowleopard

    With Apple releasing Mac OS X 10.6.5 seeds to its developer community, word around the campfire is that the new OS update will address the following issues according to MacNN:

    AirPrint:
    Due for a release ahead of iOS 4.2, Mac OS X 10.6.5’s key focus will be interfacing with iPhones, iPod touches and iPads running the new flavor of iOS, to allow them to print wirelessly to any printer on that’s connected to a Mac on the same WiFi network via Apple’s new AirPrint technology.

    Without Mac OS X 10.6.5, devices updated to iOS 4.2 next month will only have the option of printing to the Print Simulator (an Apple development tool) or one of three HP Photosmart printers that already include built in support for AirPrint, and don’t require a Mac running 10.6.5:
    – HP Photosmart Premium Fax e-All-in-One Printer series – C410
    – HP Photosmart Premium e-All-in-One Printer series – C310
    – HP Photosmart Plus e-All-in-One Printer series- B210

    General Stability Enhancements:
    – Improve reliability with Microsoft Exchange servers.
    – Resolve a delay between print jobs.
    – Address a printing issue for some HP printers connected to an Airport Extreme.
    – Resolve an issue when dragging contacts from Address Book to iCal.
    – Address an issue where dragging an item from a stack causes the Dock to not automatically hide.
    – Add SSL support for uploading files to iDisk.
    – Resolve an issue with Wikipedia information not displaying correctly in Dictionary.
    – Improve performance of MainStage on certain Mac systems.
    – Resolve spacing issues with OpenType fonts.
    – Improve reliability with some Bluetooth braille displays.
    – Resolve a VoiceOver issue when browsing some web sites with Safari 5.
    – Address stability and performance of graphics applications and games.

    While the last several pre-releases of Mac OS X 10.6.5 have contained no known issues, according to documents accompanying the betas, Apple continues to request that developers focus their testing efforts around a handful of key areas, namely traditional printing and AirPrint.

    In addition, developers have been asked to test the software against any of their own applications that include 3D graphics, make use of QuickTime, or read and write from USB devices. Apple has also been tweaking the performance of Time Machine, its automated backup software, for improved reliability.

    Mac OS X 10.6.5 is expected to arrive any time in the next few weeks. The last time Apple released an update to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was back in June, when it issued Mac OS X 10.6.4 to address trackpad issues and compatibility problems with Adobe’s Creative Suite 3.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Apple releases third iOS 4.2 beta, adds SMS ringtones, changes AirPlay functionality

    Late Tuesday Apple released the third beta of iOS 4.2 to developers alongside the second beta of iTunes 10.1, making subtle changes to the distributions of the former for both the iPhone and the iPad.

    Per fscklog, the iOS 4.2 build releases seem to be following a two week cycle, as the first iOS 4.2 beta was released four weeks ago, with the second beta arriving two weeks after.

    People familiar with the latest iOS beta said it is known as build 8C5115c.

    The beta contains several significant changes, including an updated version of the modem firmware. Noticeably missing from the beta were AirPlay features from previous builds. The AirPlay button has disappeared from the Photos, Videos, and YouTube apps on the distribution for the iPad.

    Developers have noticed a bug with the AirPrint functionality. When printing from an iPhone, the image sometimes prints as just the size of the iPhone’s screen, not the original image size.

    The beta also packs a number of smaller additions. According to fscklog, the new beta adds “a larger number” of tones for receiving text messages on the iPhone 4. The 17 new SMS ringtones include tones such as “Calypso,” “Choo Choo,” “Sherwood Forest,” and “Tiptoes.”

    In a minor change to the iPad, the Connect to iTunes recovery screen now uses the controversial new iTunes 10 icon.

    The iTunes 10.1 beta released alongside the iOS 4.2 beta continues to support printing.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and if you’ve gotten your mitts on the new beta, please let us know what you make of it.

  • Apple strips AirPrint support for second-gen iPod touch devices

    Per 9 to 5 Mac, Apple has revised its original AirPrint announcement, removing promised support for the second-generation iPod touch device. Still in development, AirPrint automatically finds printers on local networks that can print text, photos, and graphics wirelessly over Wi-Fi networks without the need for additional drivers or software.

    Apple’s original documents stated that printing would only be supported on iOS devices that support multitasking, yet listed the second-generation iPod touch as compatible. The second-generation iPod touch has since been removed from the compatible device list.

    This marks the second incident in the last few months where Apple has revised its list of supported devices before a software update’s official launch, as it removed Game Center support for the iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G while it was still in beta testing, only to once again include support for the second-gen touch shortly before the feature’s debut in iOS 4.1.

  • Apple releases updated iOS 4.2, iTunes 10.1 betas to developer community

    applelogo_silver

    Late Tuesday, Apple released new betas of two major upcoming software releases, the upcoming versions of iOS 4.2 and iTunes 10.1.

    Per AppleInsider, Tuesday’s release of iOS 4.2 marks the second beta of the software update, due for a public release in November. It is available for the iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, and second-, third- and fourth-generation iPod touch.

    People familiar with the latest iOS beta said it is known as 8C5101C.

    The first beta of iOS 4.2 was released earlier this month, and marked the debut of AirPrint, Apple’s new wireless printing standard for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. AirPrint will allow iOS device users to print to a shared printer connected to a PC or Mac, or directly to some printers that are compatible with the format.

    The previous beta also packed a number of small fixes, including improvements to YouTube and FaceTime. Its release in November will also be the first time iPad owners have had access to the iOS 4 features iPhone and iPod touch users already enjoy, including multitasking and home screen folders.

    A beta of iTunes 10.1 was also issued for testing Tuesday, and people familiar with the build said it also supports printing. Just this past weekend, iTunes 10.0.1 was publicly released, bringing improvements to Ping.

    If you’ve had a chance to play with either beta, let us know and stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Apple posts new iOS 4.2 beta, adds AirPrint feature

    Last Wednesday, Apple released a new beta version of its iOS 4.2 operating system to developers, bringing with it a new feature known as AirPrint. Per ZDNet, the update brings multitasking to the iPad for the first time. Multitasking allows users to run more than one program at a time. The iPhone and iPod Touch have had some multitasking capabilities since the introduction of iOS 4.0.

    The update also features wireless printing software called AirPrint. “AirPrint is Apple’s powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS — no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a statement on Wednesday.

    iOS 4.2 is expected to be released in November.

    If you’ve gotten your mitts on the new beta and have anything to say about it, let us know what you think.