Apple

What to expect at the Back to the Mac event Oct 20th, 2010

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Back to the Mac.

Next Wednesday there is going to be a Back to the Mac event at Cupertino. They have teased the interwebs with this picture. Many claim that Apple wants to let you know that they are not just focusing on iOS devices (according to RBC though they are having a hell of a quarter thanks to the new iPhone 4), and that their Mac product line is just as important.

To start things off the rumor mongers have been saying that Apple might announce the next iteration of their OS X probably calling it lion as you can see in the picture above. To me this is a clear statement that the new operating system is not just a simple upgrade, and should have a slew of new features and optimizations. I feel that the gpu acceleration they wanted to introduce will make it into the cut of new features. Also hopefully a native 64 bit kernel that boots without the “6,4” boot trick. Finally when I had an SSD, I felt that OS X did not handle it well, and maybe it should implement TRIM or something like it. This news has got me so excited, and I just can’t hide it.

One More Thing… Apple Insider, Engadget, and all other tech blogs are reporting a hardware announcement. This hardware is the new Macbook Air which has been sized down to 11.6 inches and might run on a flash based memory called an SSD card. Hopefully they also announce a refresh to the Macbook pro lineup, and jump on ship for USB 3.0. Anyways this will all be happening at 10AM Pacific Timing on October 20th, 2010. So If I were you going to buy a mac in the next couple of days/weeks, don’t!

How the iPhone 4 re-upped the ante

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Facetime Screen

When the first iPhone came out, it changed the way the mobile phone industry was operating, all other companies scrambled to put something together that would be worthy to battle the iPhone. While some were successful (Google, maybe Nokia), other where not in my opinion (RIM/Blackberry). When I say that, I am not talking about sales, I am talking about a phone and operating system that are coherent.

Next we can all agree that the next two iPhones were just upgrades that were nothing too special other than at the time they were released (except for the 3G upgrade). So when the iPhone 4 came out, it had a new feature called Facetime. What is Facetime you ask? It is a video calling technology that Apple developed. You might think to yourself, who cares Nokia and Sony Ericsson have that that since around 2005. While that may be true, I’ve had the first Nokia phone that had a front facing camera, as well as many others, yet how many times did I use a video call in those three years? Exactly once (no joke), and I was sitting next to the person I was having the call with. We were just testing out the technology. As Felix Dennis mentions in his book How To Get Rich the key to being successful is not about having a great idea, it’s all about execution, and Apple executes second to none.

One of the really cool things about Facetime is that you don’t even need cellular reception to make a call (which makes video calls free all over the world!). Check out this video below of me giving directions to a friend while in the middle of the woods! We had no reception, yet we had wifi internet. While all other phones in the cabin (blackberries) were out of luck when it came to making phone calls, at least I could call people that have a Facetime device (at that time only the iPhone 4).

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK0DjkU-Pu4

How to get your free iPhone 4 Case/Bumper

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So as we all know apple announced it would give away free iPhone 4 cases/bumpers to help those affected by the antennagate. While I haven’t had any real problem with holding the iPhone 4 using the death grip, it’s still nice to get a free bumper out of it. I choose the black bumper as you can see below. I could not find the app in the Canadian Appstore, so I thought I would share how to get the app.

1.First open this link

2.Click on the View in iTunes button

View in iTunes

3.Click on the Free App button in iTunes. This will download the application to your computer.

Free App button

4.Once the application has downloaded, connect your phone and sync it, make sure you have Sync Apps check mark activated in the Apps tab in your iPhone page inside iTunes.

Sync Apps checkmark

5.Open the application on your iPhone, and click Get Started.

Get Started

6.Login with your iTunes account information.

iTunes Sign in

7.Choose the case you like and click Select. (I picked the bumper FYI)

8.Make sure your address information is up-to-date and click place order, you will then be greeted with this Thank You page. That’s it you should now have a case/bumper on its way to you.

Thank You.

iPhone 4.0.1 and iPad 3.2.1 updates now live

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iPhone 4.0.1 Update

As usual thanks to Engadget I am now aware that the iPhone 4.0.1 and the iPad 3.2.1 updates are available through iTunes. These updates don’t do much, just fix the formulas for displaying signal level, however a lot of my friends have been having problems with 4.0 so maybe this will fix things. If you haven’t upgraded already connect your iPhone/iPad to iTunes and click on the Check for update button. I guess they released this just in time for tomorrow’s press conference!

iPhone 4 Press Conference Friday July 16th, 2010

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iPhone 4 White

I was just reading the front page of Engadget when I saw they posted that Apple will be hosting a Press Conference on this Friday. Without even reading the article, this comes to mind, It’s clearly regarding the antenna problems, and secondly I think their might an apology and a recall.

Maybe it was Jeremy Clarkson’s statement that forced them to hold this conference!

Jeremy Clarkson makes fun of the iPhone 4 antenna problem

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httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JDFHGEiLcU

After reading about the iPhone 4 antenna problem, I’m glad I don’t have plans (as of yet) to purchase one. Today I was watching Top Gear (the most watched tv show in the world FYI), when Jeremy Clarkson made fun of the issue while introducing The Stig. I felt it was really funny, and well worth sharing! One of the main reasons I watch Top Gear is because of Mr. Clarkson’s Humor!

iOS 4 Folders are smart!

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iOS 4 Folders

After using iOS 4 for a while I decided to make my home screen take up less pages. To do this I had to take advantage of the new Folders feature released in this version of iOS. To make a folder you simply hold your finger over one icon and when they start to wiggle just drop it on top of another icon. Each folder supports 12 icons inside and you can have multiple folders with the same name (I have two games folders). However this is not the clever part that amazed me. When you make a folder the iPhone pre-labels the folder to the applications’ category. I’m assuming it gets this data from the App Store. I kept trying to make it not match all applications in the folder and after four or five tries I succeeded as you can see in the image below. Organization is hard thing, yet Apple trumps at it.

iOS 4 Folders incorrect

WinX HD Video Converter for Mac Giveaway

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WinX HD Video Converter for Mac Icon

Today was the third Sunday of June, which means it was father’s day around the world. I made sure to contact my father and wish him a happy father’s day and let him know that he is appreciated. Sophia from WinX contacted me again and let me know that they are promoting their new converter software by giving it away on father’s day. Just by looking at the specs, this video converter can just about convert any file (it even supports Blu-ray .mts, m2ts files) to any output including preconfigured outputs for media devices (iPhone, iPad, Sony PS3,  Xbox 360, Zune HD, Blackberry, etc). It has the a similar interface as their other software, so if you have used any of their software it should be familiar. I think the Icon is really snazzy and reflects well with OS X’s great icon design. I would suggest that the interface be made more Mac like as reminds me of boilsoft applications on Windows. I know this application will come in handy because I do a lot of converting, especially when devices don’t support specific HD containers such as MKV.

To take advantage of this offer (which ends July 1, 2010) Visit the WinX HD Video Converter for Mac Giveaway page.

WinX HD Video Converter for Mac Screenshot
Click on image for full size

How to use an iPhone as a wireless adapter

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When I moved into my new apartment this month I noticed that the phone line outlet was on on opposite side of the apartment relative to my computer. Since I was using a Cat5 cable to connect before it would not be a viable solution in the new apartment. I ordered an Airport Extreme card for my Mac Pro, but in the meantime I had no method to connect to my wireless network. I did some googling and found that there is a way to use your iPhone as a wireless adapter. The software is called WSID and requires a jailbroken iPhone as well as some ssh knowhow. There is a readme file with instructions so if you can follow them then go for it. This little hack works well and kept me connected to the internet while I waited for my Airport Extreme card to arrive. Below is the link to the file, which is tiny by the way (13.5kb).

Download

App of the day – Scanner 911

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Scanner911

I have not bought an app from the App Store in a while, so a couple of days ago I felt like looking at what new apps were available. I found Scanner 911 in the most popular apps, and read the description. What does it do? It lets you listen in on Police, Fire, and EMS radio channels in USA and Canada. It only costs 99 cents and is quite entertaining and impressive. You can purchase it on the iTunes App Store.