ReelDirector Brings Video Stitching and Effects to iPhone

The 3GS already has barebones video trimming tools, but Nexvio's iPhone editing app picks up Apple's slack by adding in titles, basic effects and, most importantly, clip stitching.

Don't get too excited, it's not like you're getting a touch based Final Cut Pro interface or anything. I haven't tried it, but from what I can see ReelDirector seems to approximate the basic functions of iMovie with a pretty slick looking interface.

Now we just have to wait for the inevitable slew of videos proclaiming to be both shot and edited on an iPhone. [iTunes Link via Oh Gizmo! via Wired]

Send an email to Chris Jacob, the author of this post, at cjacob@gizmodo.com.

Unibody Apple MacBook Review

It was inevitable that Apple would take their unibody manufacturing prowess from their MacBook Pros and focus it on the MacBook line. We just never expected the new MacBook to be as enticing as the 13-inch Pro.

It's Basically a White Macbook Pro

To illustrate just how good the internals are on the MacBook, just compare them to the current base 13-inch MacBook Pro. Both have a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo with a 3MB L2 cache, a 1066 MHz frontside bus and a 2GB default RAM. They also have a really similar LED backlit display, which eliminates the problem of narrowed viewing angles that we docked the first generation unibody MacBooks for, and both now have the same contrast ratio. The only difference is that the Pro has a 60% greater color gamut.

The new body

The rounded edges and a reduced number of seams make the new MacBook appear to be a flattened marshmallow. A glossy, rubber-bottomed marshmallow. It's an immediately more appealing shape than the previous generation of white MacBooks, marking the end of the transition of Apple laptops to unibody construction. That rubber bottom is also pretty satisfying, both in the fact that it grips surfaces better to not slide around, and because it's a more thigh-friendly material when the machine heats up. The whole body is more solid, thanks to an aluminum sheet and some more structural supports found in the teardown.
Otherwise, there are many other small design changes you'll appreciate. The trackpad is now the standard glass multitouch type found on the Pros, the screen has a more prominent bezel and the iSight is circular instead of square. Keyboard layout is the same, but on-key shortcuts have been updated to the latest standards. It also comes with Apple's new 60W power adapter, which has a tip that looks more like the MacBook Air than any of the previous chargers.
In general, the build quality is more solid and more "Pro" than ever before, despite the material being polycarbonate instead of aluminum. It's like trading up from a Toyota Yaris to a Camry—not luxury, but it's a noticeable difference.

Benchmarks and Battery Life

Comparing the 13-inch aluminum unibody MacBook of 2008 to the 13-inch aluminum unibody MacBook Pro to the 13-inch MacBook now shows that there really isn't a big difference between the three models. The small discrepancies fall inside the margin of error, and some change can probably be attributed to the fact that the first two machines were running Leopard, whereas the machine we have now is running Snow Leopard.

Point is, this MacBook isn't really that much faster or slower than the one last year.
Just as the transition to non-replaceable batteries increased MacBook Pro runtime,so too has the transition benefited the Macbook. Except for the fact that there's no external battery display on this unit for some reason, and that there's no infrared port for Apple Remotes.

The new MacBook ran 4 hours and 12 minutes, longer than the two most recent MacBook Pros, using the same metrics as we did before: Wi-Fi on, keyboard backlight on low, non-stop H.264 movie playback. In real-world circumstances, that battery life can only get better. Our testing is processor-intensive.

What's also interesting, according to the teardown, is that the battery is only 60 watt-hours vs. 55 on the old one, yet it gets a lot more battery life. This is probably due to internal optimizations that Apple made, not just because there's a fatter battery.

Some new problems

• A consequence of having an improved, unibody construction is that you can no longer replace the battery yourself. It also means that native battery life will be longer, as demonstrated in the testing above. In fact, unlike Pro machines where people really do want to swap batteries for extended field use, an improved internal battery will serve regular users much better.

• For some reason, Apple decided to make the entire area surrounding the keyboard as glossy as the outer shell, meaning that your wrists have a more sticky feel when you're typing. It's not a huge deal, but it is less usable when compared to previous generations or the MacBook Pro line.

• Again, like the Magic Mouse, the white polycarbonate (plastic) will get scratched easily, and will show scratches if you look at it from a certain angle. It doesn't diminish performance, but it is annoying if you're anal about your stuff.

Where does that leave us?

Right now is the brief window in time when MacBooks just got bumped up in specs to match the low-end MacBook Pros, in order for the MacBook Pros to have room to grow without leaving the entry-level machines too far behind. If you're in the market for a MacBook, this could be the best time for you to buy and feel good about your purchase, knowing that you'll get the same performance as a machine that costs $200 more.

But keep in mind, this development basically implies that the MacBook Pros will be getting the Core i5 and i7 processors some time in the next year.

The unibody construction was an inevitable upgrade to the MacBook line, and one that brings many more benefits than it does faults. There shouldn't be a drastic change in the MacBook design any time soon, so now is probably the furthest away from the next generation as you're going to get. [Apple]

Polycarbonate unibody construction looks, feels great

Has just about the same specs as the 13-inch MacBook Pro, so you're getting a good deal

Finally get Pro stuff like the multitouch glass trackpad

Glossy wrist area is slightly too sticky

Can't swap out batteries, but you do get longer life in return

Firewire port is gone

Apple Magic Mouse Review

The Magic Mouse is undoubtedly the best mouse Apple's made in years. They've taken their knowledge in trackpad finger gestures and one-piece manufacturing and made this delicate, yet sturdy, bridge-shaped mouse. The question is how it compares to other mice.

As we said in the hands-on, the mouse has one piece of clear white plastic on the top, curved, like a Dove bar. It has both right and left clicks, like the Mighty Mouse, but differentiates itself from other mice with its touch-sensitive scrolling and two-fingered gestures. That's the big selling feature (other than the fact that it is a beautiful looking mouse).

As a mouse

The Magic Mouse is a very, very pretty mouse—something you wouldn't feel like you had to hide when not in use—and looks different enough from other mice that people will ask who made it, before awkwardly mumbling a nevermind as they spot the grey Apple logo.

Compared to ergonomic mice, the Magic Mouse is really low and aerodynamic, which means it doesn't contour to your hand and doesn't give the sensation that the mouse is a part of your hand, like Logitech mice tend to. But it is Bluetooth, so you don't need an extra dongle, and it's powered by two AA batteries, which get up to four months of use per charge, according to Apple.

Physically moving the mouse and mousing is fine and smooth, since there are two plastic bars on the mouse's underside that minimize contact with whatever surface you're on.
Even though there's no clear delineation between right and left buttons on the mouse itself, the Magic Mouse knows to interpret a click on the left or right half appropriately (though right click needs to be activated from inside System Preferences before you can use it).

As for tracking, it's a pretty standard laser technology that tracks decently on most surfaces, including jeans and chairs. Still, the Magic Mouse doesn't have the crazy tracking ability that Logitech's MX mice just introduced—so it can't track on glass, and it can't track on glossy surfaces like the 13-inch MacBook.

The scrolling

The one thing Apple did completely right in the Magic Mouse was the touch scrolling. It's fluid, natural and works with any amount of fingers on over 75% of the mouse surface (all the way down to the Apple logo). Flicking up and down gets you up and down web pages fast, as long as you have "momentum" turned on in the settings. Turn it off and you get fine-grained 1:1 scrolling—good if you want to slowly navigate through a PDF doc.

You can also click with one finger and scroll with another, letting you highlight blocks of text like you would on a normal scrolling mouse. On the whole, there's no major piece of scrolling functionality (other than a middle click) that you lose transitioning from a standard scroll wheel to this touch-sensitive solution. You just get the ability to scroll in 360 degrees as a bonus.

The only flaw is that you sometimes activate the left (or right) click when you're scrolling too emphatically. I suspect this is just something you'll get used to over time, but it can be annoying when you're trying to scroll and you navigate somewhere else instead.

Using two finger swiping to navigate web pages, on the other hand, is a bit more awkward. You'll need to pinch the mouse on the sides with your thumb and fourth/pinkie finger while you're scrolling, forcing you to make a painful eagle claw all the time.

What it can't do

As good as the swiping gestures are, they're limited in what you can actually accomplish with them. You can't use more than three fingers at a time, because you won't have enough fingers left to hold the mouse. There's also no option for touch-sensitive clicking, like in trackpads, something that would have been cool to have just as a bonus. You also can't tell which side is up just from touch until you click down and feel nothing happen.

So far the Magic Mouse is only compatible with the iMacs that they ship with, but will get broad support soon.

It also can't manage to stay free from scratches, similar to white MacBooks that also get scratched very easily. But the blemishes don't interfere with the mouse's functionality—it's just painful to watch any new product lose its pristine finish so quickly.

Is this the best mouse Apple has ever made?

Yeah, it is. The Magic Mouse is much better than the Mighty Mouse, which peoplehated, and might actually be good enough that non-Mac users might want to pick it up as well, supposing that they don't really care about ergonomics. Since it fills the gap between a tiny travel mouse and a full sized desktop mouse, the Magic is in a good position to grab users on both ends.

It looks very nice

Touch scrolling works well

Swiping is less comfortable

Not very ergonomic