OS X Daily: Use Different Desktop Background Pictures for Spaces in Mac OS X Lion

Use Different Desktop Background Pictures for Spaces in Mac OS X Lion
Remove the Stock Ticker Widget from iOS 5 Notification Center
Buying an iPhone 4S Without a Contract Makes it Unlocked
Show Recent Items Per App with a Two-Fingered Double Tap in OS X

Use Different Desktop Background Pictures for Spaces in Mac OS X Lion

Posted: 26 Oct 2011 04:49 AM PDT

Use Different Wallpapers for Spaces in Mac OS X Lion

Assigning different wallpapers to different desktop spaces is much easier in Mac OS X Lion, here’s the quickest way to do this:

Enter each space individually
Right-click on the desired background image and choose “Set Desktop Picture”
Repeat for the next desktop space

Using this method and Mission Control to switch spaces is the fastest method, but you can also do this through System Preferences.

Set Different Wallpapers for Desktop Spaces in OS X Lion

Before Mac OS X 10.7, third party utilities had to be used to set different wallpapers to each virtual desktop space, making this another nice addition to Lion.

Remove the Stock Ticker Widget from iOS 5 Notification Center

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 05:51 PM PDT

iOS 5 Stock Ticker

Don’t want to see the Stock Ticker on the iPhone or iPads Notification Center in iOS 5? This was one of the first questions a friend asked me after updating to iOS 5, so if the stock markets don’t play into your daily life, here’s how to remove the stocks widget:

Disable the Stock Ticker in iOS 5

Launch “Settings” and tap on “Notifications”
Tap on “Stock Widget”
Slide on the “ON” widget to turn it “OFF”

Now you can pull down the Notification Center and not see the stock market to be reminded of your portfolios abysmal performance (unless you own AAPL or GOOG of course)

Buying an iPhone 4S Without a Contract Makes it Unlocked

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 11:32 AM PDT

Apple iPhone 4S in white

Anyone can buy an unlocked iPhone 4S right now if you are willing to pay the full price of the device, meaning the lower carrier subsidized contract 4S prices do not apply. The unlock applies to both the GSM and CDMA carriers currently being sold, available at the following price points:

iPhone 4S 16 GB – $649
iPhone 4S 32 GB – $749
iPhone 4S 64 GB – $849

The iPhone 4S GSM SIM card slot is unlocked when the full retail price is paid at an Apple Store. In the case of the CDMA carriers selling the device like US carriers Sprint and Verizon, the Micro SIM card slot is also unlocked and will support other GSM carriers. The carrier unlock allows the iPhone to be used on another US carrier like T-Mobile, or allows for cheap roaming abroad with the purchase of a local SIM card, with the other benefit being that you are not tied to a contract with any single US cell provider.

You can verify the unlock immediately when the iPhone 4S is first connected to iTunes, where the following message is displayed:

unlocked iPhone 4S message in iTunes

Initial reports indicated the unlocked 4S would be sold in November, which may suggest a change in policy at some point when paying the full out-of-contract price.

Buying an unlocked iPhone at full price is typical outside of the USA, but in the USA was somewhat of an anomaly until earlier this year when Apple started selling the iPhone 4 unlocked at the full retail price. That has since translated to the iPhone 4S, and presumably will carry on with future iPhone releases as well.

Show Recent Items Per App with a Two-Fingered Double Tap in OS X

Posted: 25 Oct 2011 10:35 AM PDT

Show Recent Items per application in OS X Lion

You can quickly see any apps recent items in Mac OS X Lion by using a two-fingered double-tap on that applications icon in the Dock.

This brings up a menu contained within Mission Control showing all of your recent items, and if you have currently opened items they will be displayed above the list. The trick also works on apps that are not currently open, allowing you to see recent items without launching that app.

This tip was sent in by one of our readers, who cautions that you will also see recent items you may have forgotten about or don’t intend on being visible. Thanks for the tip Nilesh!