WiredTechs's Blog

Chinese newspaper says Apple building a netbook

wiredtechs123 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:24:40 +0000

According to the report, which was relayed by DigiTimes, Taiwan-based Wintek will start shipping the panels to the Cupertino-based Mac maker sometime during the third quarter of the year for an official launch at an unknown date.

“Wintek revealed that it is currently working with Apple to develop some new products, but it said it does not know what applications the new products are for,” the DigiTimes report said. “Wintek added that no shipment schedule has been worked out yet, but shipments are likely to begin in the second half of the year.”

In its original report, which isn’t accessible on the web, the Commercial Times reportedly went on to say that Quanta Computer will be the company responsible for assembling the new computers.

The move would appear contrary to comments on the netbook segment from members of Apple’s top brass, who in recent discussions with Wall Street analysts have downplayed the market for the stripped down, sub-$600 notebooks.

“As we look at the netbook category, that’s a nascent category,” Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said last fall. “As best as we can tell, there’s not a lot of them being sold.”

More recent criticisms of the segment came this past January from Apple chief operating office Tim Cook, who noted that netbooks are “principally based on hardware that’s much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays.”

“We don’t think people will be pleased with those products,” he added. “It’s a category we watch, we’ve got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they’re happy with.”

Unlike DigiTimes, which has proven to be been hit or miss with its forward-looking Apple reports, the Commercial Times has generally been more reliable with its calls on the company. That said, a cursory review reveals that its report Monday on netbooks would represent the newspaper’s boldest prediction in some time.

Assuming the report carries some truth, there’s also the possibility the displays could be headed for Apple’s much rumoredNewton/Web tablet of similar proportions, and not a traditional netbook.

Apple iPhone 3.0 Event Next Week

wiredtechs123 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:19:45 +0000

There will indeed be an Apple event in March, but it (obviously) won’t be the rumoreddesktop event. Instead, next week press have been invited to attend Apple’s iPhone 3.0 special event next Tuesday, March 17. Rumors about what the iPhone 3.0 firmware would bring have been circulating, but no firm details have yet emerged, and Apple’s invite betrays no additional information.

The event next week will mark a little over a year since the reveal of the original iPhone SDK, and the timing is probably not coincidental, since part of the 3.0 announcement will include the revelation of a new SDK for developers to work with. And considering the wording of the invitation, 3.0 will likely mirror 2.0 in that the firmware won’t be immediately available. “Get an advance preview of what we’re building” definitely suggests that Apple isn’t ready for a public release just yet. We might see a timeline similar to last year, with the actual release being timed to coincide with the introduction of new iPhone hardware in June. Read the rest of this article »

The New ipod shuffle

wiredtechs123 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:58:23 +0000

This is small.

1.8″ tall x 0.3″ thin to be exact.

To create the world’s smallest music player, we moved the controls from iPod shuffle to the earbud cord. This allowed us to make the new iPod shuffle dramatically smaller, but not just for dramatically smaller’s sake. It’s also easier to use, with the controls located where you can access them quickly.

See how the controls work

Easy access controls.

The controls of the new iPod shuffle are located on the right earbud cord. With command central now strategically placed in this more convenient location, you can navigate your music — and activate the VoiceOver feature — without taking your eyes off your run, your ride, or whatever you’re doing.

Your music library. To go.

There was a time when limited storage meant you had to leave a lot of your songs on the sync-room floor. But now that iPod shuffle has 4GB of storage, you have plenty of room to store hours and hours of music — up to 1,000 songs.^* With room for multiple playlists, too.

Fashion tech-cessory.

Even the iPod shuffle clip gets the rock star treatment. Now forged in stainless steel, the clip attaches securely to your shirt, jacket, workout gear, even your backpack. And the sleek, durable, anodized aluminum case — available in silver or black — makes iPod shuffle a wardrobe essential. And yes, there’s still room for personalized engraving.

This is huge.

Introducing VoiceOver.

Musically speaking, the new iPod shuffle is brilliant, thanks to an exciting new feature called VoiceOver. Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. With the press of a button, VoiceOver tells you as the music dips down. It even announces the names of your playlists. And when your battery needs charging, VoiceOver tells you that, too.Learn more about VoiceOver

Multiple playlists.

You’ve probably made multiple playlists in iTunes. One for your commute. One for the gym. One for just chilling out. With the new iPod shuffle, you can sync your playlists and always find the perfect mix for your activity or mood. VoiceOver tells you the name of each playlist, so it’s easy to switch between them and find the one you want without looking.

Multi-music-lingual.

A French love song. A Spanish bolero. An Italian cantata. Your music library has songs from all over the world. That’s why VoiceOver speaks 14 different languages. So it can tell you song titles and artists in the correct languages.

Shuffle. Straight. Stop.

The shuffle switch has three positions. Flip it to the left, and your music shuffles for a “whatever happens, happens” flow. Flip it to the middle, and your songs play in order. Or flip to the right to turn it off.

Time Capsule

wiredtechs123 — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:48:05 +0000

Overview

Automatic backup with Time Machine.

Time Capsule works automatically with Time Machine in Mac OS X Leopard to create the perfect no-hassle backup solution. There are no cables, and you can back up all the computers in your home to a central location.

Server-grade storage.

The massive 500GB or 1TB server-grade hard drive²gives you all the capacity and safety you need for backing up all your Mac computers.

Easy wireless networking.

Connect your DSL or cable modem to Time Capsule, then quickly set it up with the easy-to-use AirPort Utility, which is included for both Mac OS X and Windows. Within minutes, you and up to 50 others can use your Mac computers or PCs to surf the web, stream video, share photos, and more — without wires.³

Simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi.

For maximum range and compatibility, Time Capsule works simultaneously on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, allowing all the devices on the network to use the most efficient band automatically. And Time Capsule uses the latest 802.11n wireless technology so you can enjoy up to five times the performance and up to twice the range of 802.11g wireless networks.⁴

Guest networking.

Now you can set up a separate Wi-Fi network with a separate password for your visitors. Simply enable the new guest networking feature, and your guests can use the Internet but can’t access other parts of your private network, such as your computers, printers, and attached hard drives.

Wireless drive sharing.

Time Capsule also works great as a wireless hard drive, whether you have a Mac or a PC. It sets up in a snap, giving you a networked hard drive you can use for storing and sharing all kinds of files. If you’re a MobileMe member using a Mac with Mac OS X Leopard, you can even access the files on the drive over the Internet.⁵

Print without wires.

Print documents, photos, and more from any room in your home or office to a central printer connected to Time Capsule via USB. (See system requirements.)

Strong security and access controls.

Protect yourself with the built-in firewall and industry-standard encryption technologies including WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP.

Works with iPhone, Apple TV and more.

Time Capsule works with Mac computers, PCs, iPhone, iPod touch, Apple TV, and virtually all 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless devices — all at the same time.

Apple

The New Mac Mini

wiredtechs123 — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:24:55 +0000

The New Mac mini

Written on March 3, 2009

The Apple Blog

After months and months of waiting, the new Mac mini turns out to be exactly what all the rumors said it was going to be — the same exterior design with some changes to the ports on the back. And while the visible changes are fairly minor, just about everything inside has been improved significantly. It may even be just the update you were looking for. Here is the rundown on the new Mac mini.

Love Comes Quickly

There’s a lot to like here. Just like we saw all over the internet for the past few days, the Mac mini includes five USB ports (up from four) and two display ports — one mini DisplayPort and one mini-DVI. Also included is FireWire 800 (an upgrade from 400 on the previous model) and gigabit ethernet. From left to right, the ports are [1] power, [2] gigabit ethernet, [3] FireWire 800, [4] mini-DVI, [5] mini DisplayPort, [6-10] USB 2.0.

You can also see audio input and output connections above the USB ports (that’s an opening for a lock above USB port #2). These are both dual optical digital and analog connectors so you can plug in either one. The optical audio out is great for those looking to use the Mac mini in their living room connected to a home theater system because you will be able to get surround sound to your receiver.

You’ve Got the Looks

One of the most exciting changes to the mini is the new graphics system. For the past couple years, the Mac mini has been limping along with Intel GMA950 integrated graphics. The new mini sports the nVidia 9400M discrete graphics processor with either 128 or 256MB of RAM shared with main memory. This is the same system used in the new MacBooks and represents an enormous improvement over the dated GMA950.

I am also really excited about the option for two monitors on the Mac mini. This opens up some interesting possibilities for people that were previously considering an iMac with a second display, or a Mac Pro with two displays. I know a few writers, stock traders, doctors, etc. that really want two displays but don’t really need the power (or expense) of a faster machine.

The support for two displays also makes the Mac mini a little more interesting as a home theater device. It would be possible to use the mini on the desktop and run a longer cable to a TV for watching DVD’s, Hulu, boxee, etc.

We don’t know yet if the 9400M will result in a better TV picture for media applications, but it should be a good machine for that purpose.

I am disappointed that Apple has not released new Cinema displays to go with the Mac mini and Mac Pro upgrades (the 24″ LED Cinema Display has that Magsafe connector for laptops), but 3rd party options are plentiful.

I’ve Got the Brains

The Mac mini CPU has been updated to the latest portable Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.0GHz with a faster front-side bus speed of 1066MHz. There is a configure-to-order option for the 2.26GHz processor available as well. The Mac mini still has two SO-DIMM slots, but max memory has been increased to 4GB.

If you’re thinking about ordering more RAM, I would recommend getting it from Apple for $150. Yes, you are going to pay more than you would if you bought 3rd party RAM (about $80), but that extra $70 is going to be worth it to many people to have the RAM covered under your Apple warranty or AppleCare protection plan and not have to worry about cracking open your Mac mini to pull the RAM out or put it back in if you ever need to bring in the Mac mini for warranty service.

Being Boring

The new Mac mini has been updated to include wireless and bluetooth as a standard feature in all models. Wireless is now 802.11n capable, so you can enjoy the faster speeds on the updated Airport models that were also announced today. There is not much to say here, except thank goodness that it is finally done.

Always On My Mind

Or at least, always on my drive. The next big option on the new Mac mini is the selection of hard drive capacities. 120GB is standard on the base model and a 320GB drive comes installed on the high-end model. There is a 250GB drive available in the online store too. All of these drives are 5400 RPM 2.5″ laptop drives, so they are not particularly speedy. With the new FireWire 800 connection, I would think most people would be better served by buying an external drive rather than paying to upgrade the internal hard drive. You would get more storage that is both faster and cheaper than the internal drive upgrades.

To put the upgrade cost into perspective, you could buy a 500GB FireWire drive for the same cost as upgrading from 120GB to 250GB, or a 1TB FireWire drive for the cost of upgrading to the 320GB internal drive.

Was It Worth It?

I love the upgrades to the Mac mini. Maybe I am just giddy because we have been waiting so long for this blessed day to come, but I think the new mini deserves serious consideration. The Mac mini is a respectable little machine and the new graphics system and display options really make it a nice choice for many people to use as a desktop computer. I think the main reason to consider getting an iMac would be the speed of the graphics system if you are doing 3D design work or rendering, or if you are using large Photoshop files where the speed of the hard drive would impact your workflow.

The Mac mini makes a nice home theater or media device. You’ve got more display connections and better graphics and more USB ports to connect TV tuners and other devices. I think people will snatch them up for use in the living room.

That’s My Impression

While there are two choices in the Mac mini, I am left feeling like there is really only one choice. The $200 price difference between the two models comes down to 2GB of RAM (rather than 1GB), 256MB of shared graphics RAM (compared to 128MB) and a 320GB hard drive (instead of 120GB). I would definitely get the base model for $599 and upgrade the RAM and buy an external hard drive rather than buy the upgraded $799 model. I think you just get a lot more for your money that way and if you’re going to miss the graphics RAM, you should probably buy an iMac.

http://theappleblog.com

Hello world!

wiredtechs123 — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:39:43 +0000

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