Back to the Mac - Apple Press Event - Oct 20, 2010

Back to the Mac - Oct 20, 2010

In case you missed the live broadcast of the Apple live press event "Back to the Mac", here is a summary of the Apple news.

• New version of iLife - 2011
• iPhoto
• Better full screen views
• Better integration w/ social networking
• Improved Coffee Table book creation
• iMovie
• Improved Audio Editing
• Trailer creator
• Improved sharing to more video sharing sites
• Garage Band
• Groove Time added
• Flex Time (from Logic) added
• New & Improved music lessons
• FaceTime
• FaceTime for Mac introduced
• OS X Future
• 10.7 - Lion
• Bringing concepts back to the Mac from iOS
• Multitouch
• Mac App Store
• One-click downloads
• auto installs
• auto app updates
• apps will be licensed to use on all of your personal Macs
• Launchpad - app home screens
• Mission Control
• Release date of Summer 2011
• Macbook Air
• New version announced
• .68 inch thin at its thickest point
• 2.9 pounds
• Unibody construction
• Glass trackpad
• 13.3 inch LED Backlit
• 1440 x 900 pixels
• Core 2 Duo processor
• NVIDA Geforce Grahpics
• FaceTime Camera
• All Flash Storage
• instant on
• 2x faster than hard drives
• More reliable
• 90% smaller and lighter
• 7 hour batter life with WiFi on
• 30 day standby time
• Smaller 11.6 in display model also available
• 5 hour battery life
• $999

Apple Press Event - Sept 1, 2010

So what's all the hype and anticipation about from the September 1, 2010 Apple Press Event?

1. Update regarding new Retail Stores - Paris store. Very beautiful. Shanghai China store. 40 ft high glass cylinder entrance. London store. Coven Garden. Massive store. One room just for iPads. Nice mix of old and new architecture. 300 Total Retail Stores in 10 Countries. Opening soon in Spain. 80,000 One to One classes per week.

2. iOS review - made iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad possible. 120 million iOS devices sold. 230,000 new iOS devices activated per day. Upgrades not included. 6.5 Billion apps downloaded from the app store (200 apps every second). 250,000 apps available for purchase.

3. iOS 4.1 release announced today. Included bug fixes including Proximity Detector, Bluetooth, iPhone 3GS performance issues. HDR photos, HD Video upload over WiFi, Game Center (multi-player games).

4. iOS 4.2 sneak peek - mainly for iPad - coming soon. Wireless Printing, Multi-tasking, Airplay (streaming of audio, video, & photos over WiFi) - November release date.

5. iPods - 275 million iPods sold to date. This year - all-new designs for all models.

• iPod Shuffle - small, buttons are back, voice-over and clip stays, 15 hours of music playback, available in 5 color for $49.
• iPod Nano - buttons are gone, smaller than previous generations, Multi-Touch based controls, clip added, built in FM Radio & Clock. 24 hour battery life (audio playback). GUI appears to be a lite version of iOS. 7 colors available. 
• iPod Touch - Thinner, Retina Display, A4 chip, 3-axis Gyro, iOS 4.1, FaceTime with front facing camera. HD Video recording on rear camera. 40 hours of music playback. Basically iPhone4 without the phone / 3G capability. Starting @ $229.

6. iTunes review - 11.7 billion songs, 450 million TV episodes, 100 million movies, 35 million books, 160 million accounts.

• Announcing iTunes 10. New logo - no more CD in the logo. Slightly updated navigation.
• Ping - social networking for iTunes (all about music). You can now "follow" people in iTunes regarding their favorite songs, recent posts, where they are in concert (if they're an artist), etc. You can post your favorite songs and have people follow you.
• Available today for Mac and iPhone and iPod touch.

7. Apple TV - New generation - 1/4 the size of last gen. Small enough to hold in the palm of your hand. HDMI connector, Ethernet, WiFi, remote. Stream music from computer if desired. Rentals instead of purchase. No storage. Stream content from your computer. $4.99 for HD first run movies. $.99 HD TV show rentals - commercial free. So far ABC & Fox are on board with TV Shows. Netflix streaming. YouTube streaming. Flickr photo viewing. MobileMe streaming. iTunes Podcasts streaming. Radio stations. Stream videos from your iPad to your AppleTV. New price - $99! Available in 4 weeks.

iOS 4 is Here - What say YOU?

What's New

• Multi-tasking
• Folders
• Unified Inbox
• iBooks
• Home Screen Wallpaper
• Tap to Focus Video
• 5x Digital Zoom
• Faces & Places in Photos
• App Gifting
• Bluetooth Keyboard Support
• & more

Review
So far I've used & love:

• Multi-tasking
• Folders
• Unified Inbox

Quirks

• Folders (sometimes difficult to get the app to drop into a folder instead of shifting positions)
• iBooks (was not installed with the OS update - Had to download it - free)
• Multi-tasking (app must be iOS4 / Multi-tasking aware. Example - Pandora app had to be updated TODAY to take advantage of multi-tasking. Expected that to be in last Pandora update in the last few weeks)

Over all, I love the new iOS 4 update to the iPhone 3GS. Navigation / new features were fairly intuitive. Responsiveness is still just as snappy as prior to the upgrade. I love being able to keep Pandora playing in the background and still text, read email, and surf the net. BOUT TIME! I've managed to turn 6 pages of apps into 1 page of folders. Nice. And not having to go back, back, back, AHHHHH, just to get to the next mailbox in Mail is a much welcomed update. The added Multiple Exchange Account Support is nice too, as I have multiple Exchange accounts and was previously forced to set one of those up as IMAP and lost the contact / calendar syncing ability. So far the phone, running under the new OS, has not crashed, froze up, slowed down, shown errors, lost data or apps, or any other negative side effect. Of course, I would expect the folks at Apple to do a great job at not only developing a great, new, much anticipated, much needed update to their OS, but also at testing it as well. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars... so far.

So.... What say YOU! Have you downloaded and tried out the new iOS from Apple? What version of iPhone are you using? Are you wanting iOS 4 on your iPad THAT MUCH MORE?

Kevin "Mr. IT" Golden

Tech News for Busy People

Unprotected WiFi @ home = fines for owners - coming to America?

There was a recent article on ZDNet regarding a law in Germany that fines owners of WiFi networks, even in homes, that are unsecured. Is that type of a law coming to America? SHOULD it come to America? We would love to hear your thoughts on this. Not to turn this into a political blog, but I personally feel that the less government involvement into the personal lives of citizens, the better. That being said, you most definitely should lock down your WiFi network in the office or at home.

I'm a Mac commercials get the ax - Did they convince you?

A recent blog post (from another site) was posted posing the question, due to the announcement that Apple is ceasing its I'm a Mac commercials, "Were you convinced to purchase a Mac due to the I'm a Mac commercials?" - It's a great question and I'd be interested to hear your responses. My response to the original blog posting is below.

I’ll admit, I drank the koolaid and was swayed by the commercials. Nearly everything that the commercials portrayed by the PC were problems I experienced on a regular basis (or was fixing on some user’s PC). But it took more than the commercials to convince me.

Windows 7 - Is it worth upgrading?

• WinXP to Win7: Worth upgrading? - Probably
• Windows Vista to Win7: Worth upgrading? - Most Definitely
• Performance: Vista or Win7 - Hands down, Windows 7 performance is much better
• Performance: XP or Win7 - If you are using a multi-core / multi-proc PC, Win7 is faster than XP
• XP or Vista to Win7 upgrade cost: $120 (home premium), $200 (professional), $220 (ultimate)
• XP to Win7 upgrade path: "Custom" only. Not a true upgrade. Programs & settings lost. Backup required. Re-installation of programs required. Reconfiguration of custom settings required.
• Vista to Win7 upgrade path: Full upgrade available. Programs, files, settings remain intact (although we suggest you still do a custom, backup everything, perform a 'clean' install of Win7, reinstall apps, etc).
• Win7 32-bit or 64-bit: Stick with the 32-bit. Better compatibility. No compelling reason for 64-bit version of Win7
• Purchase / pricing information here
• Performance tests here
• Why Win7 over XP - Video Tours here

Courtesy of ZDNet.com

Windows 7 vs. Mac OS X? - We'll leave that to the philosophers... for now.

3G vs WiFi only (Apple iPad)

• Will you need Inet access everywhere - Yes
• Will you take your iPad almost everywhere you go - Yes
• Is AT&T's 3G and the iPad 3G required to be online everywhere - No
• Are there alternatives to AT&T's 3G - Yes
• Are 4G wireless data plans available - Yes
• Is 4G really up to 10 times (or more) faster than 3G - Yes
• iPad WiFi only - $499 (16Gb model)
• iPad 3G + WiFi - $629 (16Gb model)

One question I get all the time about the iPad is WiFi only model or 3G? There are some factors to consider when making this decision. Ask yourself this question: Do my usual daily "stomping grounds" ALL provide WiFi hotspots? Don't kid yourself. You WILL want to take your iPad with your practically everywhere you go?

iPad Review

Pros:

• Affordable, mobile alternative to laptop (for non power users)
• Totally new class of computing device
• Gorgeous Video
• 10 hour battery life
• Thousands of incredible apps
• Email, web surf, YouTube, movies (NetFlix), gaming, news consumption from virtually anywhere
• Remote control / administration of desktops, laptops, and servers - on the go (VPN, VNC, Remote Desktop)
• Enjoy your photo, video, and music library (iTunes)
• Purchase music, movies, and TV shows right from iPad (no connection to computer required)
• eBook reader in full color
• Powerful processor for mobile device

Cons:

• No Camera
• No USB expansion slots
  
  
  
  

Pandora Radio - Free vs. Premium

Pandora.com

Free Version:

• Internet based music radio
• Free version sufficient for most
• Limited to 40 hours of listening hours per month
• Great variety of musical genres and artists
• Very few ads for free edition users
• Moderate quality audio stream
• Apps for iPod, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Android + web-based for Windows / Mac

Premium Version (Pandora One):

• No Ads