New iMacs offer more value than competition – report:

A fresh analysis argues that new iMacs introduced Tuesday already compare quite favorably with their Windows-based counterparts.

The Oppenheimer analyst also used his report Tuesday to perform a side-by-side comparison of the new iMacs against all-in-one desktops from Dell and HP. He found that the mid-range $1,499 model sports faster CPU and RAM while delivering better or comparable graphics than its rivals while still coming in $100 to $250 cheaper.

The difficulty Apple has here is that it’s always simpler for people to say “I don’t care about that feature” rather than “I don’t care about the price.”

(Via AppleInsider.)

Posted: March 6th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

Many sites are talking about Quicktime Pro being available in the current betas of Snow Leopard. They’re all speculating that this will make it through to the release of the product.

I don’t think so. It’s a beta, people! Remember, the time where product features get tested prior to release? That’s all that’s happening here. Quicktime’s pro features out for testing. There’s absolutely nothing that suggests Apple will change their current marketing model in that.

And contrary to at least one article, there is no difference in the Quicktime binary – all that’s ever been needed is a key to unlock the Pro features. All that needs to be done is for that key not to be installed in the release version

In fact, I’m pretty sure this situation is no different from previous betas – those of Leopard and Tiger. I’m sure Quicktime was included with the Pro features enabled during the beta process then too.

So what’s the fuss here? People seem to be making a mountain out of absolutely nothing.

Posted: February 11th, 2009 under News.
Comments: 1

Google announced yesterday that Google Sync is now available for the iPhone, adding it to a list including the Blackberry, Windows Mobile devices, some Sony Ericcson and some Nokia phones. The iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile devices will synchronise calendars as well as contacts in the address book. Is this enough to replace Mobile Me if you have a Mac as well as an iPhone?

Mobile Me is a paid-for service (£69, $99 per annum) that enables the near real-time synchronisation of calendars, contact information and a number of @me.com email addresses. It’s built into OSX and the iPhone and (after initial teething problems) has proven to be a reliable way to keep the information on your Mac in synch with your phone. But even with its other perks – 20Gb of internet storage, email addresses – it’s expensive. Can Google Sync now be used instead?

The answer is yes, but there are compromises here. Firstly, you lose those perks. Secondly, if you’re using Activesync on your iPhone already it simply can’t be done – Google Sync requires Activesync and there can only be one Activesync configuration. Thirdly, it’s nothing like seamless. You need to set up Address Book, create new calendars, move data around and back up regularly – this is a beta after all.

However, if you wish to replace Mobile Me, or if you use one of the other Smartphones that work with Google Sync, this is an interesting opportunity. At the very least, I hope it will cause Apple to revisit the pricing of Mobile Me. I’ll pay for simplicity of configuration, but I don’t think I’ll be the only one who will think “is this worth it any more?” when my Mobile Me subscription rolls around again.

Posted: February 10th, 2009 under Comment, News.
Comments: 1

If you’re using Macs inside a organisation with a MS-based instant messaging infrastructure, you will want to upgrade to Microsoft Messenger for Mac 7.0.2 The release notes suggest this is a bugfix release, primarily concerned with improving operation with Microsoft’s recently-released corporate communications hub Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2.

This isn’t the promised release with audio-video messaging for non-corporate users – that’s still to come.

Posted: February 6th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

Google Battles ISPs With Technology:

Google has a vested interest in net neutrality. They don’t want to be forced by ISPs to pay a premium in order for the ISPs not to slow down traffic to them. Being the biggest site on the internet, they’re a sitting duck for this sort of tactic.

But Google believes that users also don’t want their internet traffic to be messed around with in order to squeeze money out of content providers. So it has created Measurement Labs, a server platform and a series of software tools to measure broadband speeds, whether or not your ISP is filtering or prioritising traffic.

By fighting politics with information, Google believes that the competitive disadvantage of being seen to filter traffic will be enough to keep the net neutral, by default.

(Via GigaOm.)

Posted: February 5th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

You would think that the ability to access your information anywhere by the simple expedient of moving it away from one physical location, out onto the internet, would be compelling. And it is for a lot of people – Cloud Computing is the tech bubble of 2008-2010. But we are already starting to see the problems with the model. Hopefully this should go some way to bursting the bubble and let cloud computing assume its proper place – a useful tool, not a universal panacea.

The major problem is that all you’re actually doing is moving your data from one physical location to a different one. A different one where you have less control – you have no say how your data is being maintained. How, or even if, it’s being backed up. What it’s being used for. How you can get it back. How it can be deleted. Your company’s data is the very essence of its existence. Surely you must do everything to preserve it?

A few days ago I wrote about people being locked out of their Google Apps accounts. Commonly used services, for example Google Notebook, cease development. And a couple of days ago, Ma.gnolia, a major social bookmarking service provider, suffered major data loss and has gone offline. The people fighting with Google Apps finally got access to their documents again. Ma.gnolia users may not be so lucky – at over 48 hours’ downtime, it could well be the site is gone for good – along with all its users’ bookmarks.

So how can a balance be struck between the convenience of data being stored in the cloud, universally accessible, and remaining in your control? A few simple rules should cover it.

Read more »

Posted: February 1st, 2009 under Comment, News.
Comments: 2

Apple MacBook Pro replacement policy for video malfunctions:

While Apple and nVidia have previously denied that any MacBook Pros containing the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT processor were affected, Apple now has a programme for the replacement of affected models – and a refund programme for people who have previously paid for repairs.

The affected machines were manufactured between May 2008 and September 2008 and include the following models:

• MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
• MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
• MacBook Pro (Early 2008)

Details are at this Apple Knowledgebase article.

(Via Macfixit.)

Posted: January 27th, 2009 under News.
Comments: none

OK, it’s only mildly amusing, but one of the first thing owners of the new Macbooks and Macbook Pros will see is a Software Update.

A mere six hours after they were announced, and probably a good twelve before they’re available in the shops, Apple have released a Macbook, Macbook Pro Software Update 1.2, improving compatibility with external displays and “including other software fixes”.

Version 1.2 already though? That, given Apple’s numbering scheme, is the third update for machines that haven’t been released yet!

Technorati Tags:
Macbook, Macbook Pro, Software Update

Posted: October 14th, 2008 under News.
Comments: none

This is what Apple should have released in the first place – this bugfix release of the iPhone’s OS fixes at least two of the three problems I mentioned in my initial post of my impressions last month.

The obvious feeling with this release is that it’s much snappier. Gone are the delays in the Address Book application, and I’ve been pushing Location Services quite hard to see if I could stall the phone again, with no luck. Also fixed are some other niggles that I came up against – Apple seemingly had broken Time Zone support again, which of course I only found out about when I was 8 timezones away from home.

Apple, of course, have not released a full list of fixed bugs, so I can’t tell you exactly what it fixes. But it’s certainly worth a go to see if it improves whatever small thing was bugging you about your iPhone.

Posted: August 5th, 2008 under News.
Comments: none

You will remember that wide channels are the method by which you can boost the throughput of your Airport Extreme access point to up to 300Mbps, if your local laws allow it. It used to be set by, in Airport Utility, going into the wireless options, choosing a country that supports it and ticking the “Use wide channels” box.

This functionality may have been recently removed, however. While testing network connectivity today using our favourite wLAN graphing software, AP Grapher, we noticed that our maximum bandwidth was 130Mbps. Yet we still had wide channels selected. We’re unable to find a way of getting 300Mbps right now, using the current 7.3.2 Airport Extreme firmware.

Can anyone else confirm they’re having the same issue, or is it unique to us?

Technorati Tags:
Airport Extreme, wide channels

Posted: July 16th, 2008 under News.
Comments: none