This Week in Mac Life

Okay, the Beatles announcement wasn't as exciting as Apple led us to believe it would be. To help the Internet get over its disappointment, we decided to redesign MacLife.com.

If that doesn't get pick up your spirits, we'll show you how to connect your Rock Band 3 guitar to GarageBand so you can play your favorite tunes from Abbey Road.
Plus, we help you do the unthinkable, put Android on an iPhone.
How-Tos
How To Record "Real" Guitar With a Rock Band 3 Controller in GarageBand
If you've been keeping up with the technological arms race of music video games, you're probably aware that Rock Band 3, released this October, features a Pro mode that teaches players to actually play guitar or keyboards. A real, stringed electric guitar is forthcoming, but at the moment, Pro guitar mode can only be played with the Mustang – a plastic controller with strings only for strumming, and a neck littered with buttons.
How To Install Android on your iOS Devices
Sometimes, those of us comfortably living in the Apple sphere need to boot into Windows or Linux. Bootcamp and Parallels have that ability on the Mac, but on an iOS device it's just not that easy to boot into another mobile operating system. If you have jailbroken iOS device, however, you can install and dual-boot your old school iPhone or iPod touch with Android.
Hands On: Hulu Plus for Roku and iOS
Tech fans will have plenty to be thankful for come Turkey Day next week -- The Beatles are finally on iTunes, Google Voice is on the iPhone, Twitter has push notifications for iOS and Hulu Plus is finally out of preview mode, officially landing on Roku boxes everywhere.
How To Make Safari Work Like RockMelt
If you spend any appreciable amount of time browsing Facebook or Twitter on a web browser, you're no doubt excited about the possibilities of the new kid in town, RockMelt. But why abandon Safari when you can bring the social to the browser installed with every Mac?
iPhone and iPad Tips of the Week - Black Friday Tips for Shopping Ninjas
You may not know this, but your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch are the equivalent of throwing stars for all you shopping ninjas out there. So, grab one of these devices, prepare for battle, and use it to take advantage for next week's Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping trips.
Twitter App Gains Push Notifications, Improvements & Bug Fixes
In the Apple world, Tuesdays are generally exciting days when Cupertino releases new products into the world. Between The Beatles on iTunes and Google Voice in the App Store, what else could pop up? Turns out that the official Twitter app also has some surprises in store for us.
How To Get RightZoom to Work with Snow Leopard
For readers who haven't tried RightZoom, it's a utility that lets you reassign the green "zoom" button at the top-left of application windows to make that window full-screen. You can limit this behavior to certain applications, or exclude applications, and even set keyboard shortcuts for maximizing windows, instead of or in addition to the green button.
How To Make All Audio Files Accessible Through iWeb
I've been working on a personal website for quite some time. I'm using iWeb because it's pretty simple.
How to Delete Photos from the iPhone Using Preview
I found this tip by accident and wanted to share it.
How To Stop Safari From Auto-Launching iTunes
The easiest way to prevent iTunes from auto-launching is to use Software Update to upgrade to Safari 5, which now supports extensions.
How to Fix iPhone Mail Issues
We've received many letters about Mail not refreshing properly in iOS 4, and we're experiencing the same problems ourselves.
News
Your Guide to the New MacLife.com
As you may have noticed, we've done some house cleaning here at MacLife.com. No longer are you looking at that old layout of yesterday--now you're staring into the layout of tomorrow! Actually, tomorrow is today, so technically you're staring into the layout of today. But no matter.
Apple Seeds iOS 4.2.1 GM to Developers
Apple has just seeded iOS 4.2.1 Gold Master to developers.
Five Things You Need to Know About the New Facebook Messages
We're sure you haven't been standing on the sidelines waiting for this announcement, but it will inevitably impact the way you and your friends use social networking. Since a million bajillion users have already signed on to Facebook for their daily dose of social addiction, it makes sense that they'd want to start using the site for their email correspondences, too.
Apple Finally Flips the Switch on Ping for iPad
Apple's music-themed social network, Ping, has been something of a red-haired stepchild since its September 1 debut, but the feature is at least now available to iPad users at long last, no software update or app download required.
iStopMotion 2.5 Released, Adds Enhanced Support for Canon Cameras
Boinx Software's iStopMotion is a great tool for creating stop motion movies using a camera connected directly to your Mac. This tool got much better today, however, with update 2.5. The update adds enhanced support for Canon cameras, better iMovie export options, tilt shift filter, and even color correction.
The Mac|Life Show: Episode 7
This week Flo checks out the OnLive MicroConsole, Ray talks about the Boxee Box and Nic shows up to drop some knowledge on us all.
Valve Announces Release Date for Portal 2
Ladies, gents, countrymen, womanfolk, everyone please lend me your ears. Valve has announced a Portal 2 release date.
RAGE Blasts Into the App Store, Palm of Your Hand Next Target
Halloween now be a distant memory, but the folks at iD Software are ready to tickle your fear fancy with the release of RAGE for iOS, available in two universal app versions, one of which ups the ante on high resolution textures for newer devices.
Google Docs Can Now Be Edited On The Go with iOS Devices
While there are plenty of good iOS apps that can already get the job done, Google is now flipping the switch on being able to edit Google Docs documents on the go from mobile devices including the iPad.
Free App Friday: This is How We Do It
There is no general theme to today's Free App Friday, other than that the apps we're suggestion enable you to actually do something--and this is how we do it...or something. In this week's edition, we'll show you a way to figure out how stuff works, select which browser to use any time you launch a link and get a virtual peg board on your iPad.
Reviews
OnLive MicroConsole Review
OnLive can already stream blockbuster games to your Mac or PC -- when we reviewed the service we called it "a water faucet for games." Now, the brand-new MicroConsole, available for preorder here, is upping the ante by streaming those same games to your HDTV in glorious 1080p60 (or 1080i60 or 720p60) with killer stereo sound -- from a tiny piece of hardware that runs on just 6 watts of energy, less than a lightbulb.
Group Test: Sub $300 Monitors
You don't have to scorch your wallet or your eyes with these posh sub-$300 monitors. Our group test of five cutting-edge displays will make sure you find your perfect match.
iOS Game Time: Amateur Hour
In this episode of iOS Game Time, we surgically remove bits of glass, play bits of fiddle, and try and restore our little tribe to its once glorious nature.
Moshi Voice Control Bluetooth Hands-free Car Kit Review
Ever wish you drove a sentient, intelligent talking car--like KITT in Knight Rider? Unfortunately, we still don't have that kind of technology readily available, but at least voice-controlled Bluetooth hands-free car kits, like this one from Moshi, help us keep our eyes on the road while we're driving.
Zomm Review
The Zomm was created by a mom on a treadmill who was watching Oprah. She prayed for something to invent, and some higher power inspired her to make a Bluetooth "leash" that beeps extremely loudly if your phone is over 30 feet away.
Eastgate Systems Tinderbox Review
Tinderbox is billed as a "personal content assistant," which gave us happy visions of a devoted digital concierge at our beck and call. It's a tool for recording, organizing, and connecting bits of information called notes--snippets of text about which you can record copious amounts of metadata. Options are vast, but Tinderbox can feel more like a chore than an assistant.
Puzzle Agent Review
This chilly mystery's puzzles are like ice cream--fun, but likely to cause brain freeze.