Archive for August, 2009
Posted by Stuart on August 27, 2009 at 23:59 pm
So, by now you should know that Apple released Snow Leopard today. Here’s my review.
Enhancements
First off, I’ll start with enhancements. Like it says on Apple’s website, “Refined, not Reinvented”. Snow Leopard’s major purpose was to boost speed, performance, and set a some-what standard structure for future OS’s. Snow Leopard really pulled through with this well, in my opinion. Finder, especially, has had an amazing upgrade. Finder is now faster, smoother, and nicer to use. Quick Look also helped make finder much much better. Quick Look got a big speed increase for pretty much everything, and it’s quite noticeable. Time Machine backups where also noticeably faster, and when going into Time Machine for restoring a file, it seemed a lot more smooth and responsive. Wake & Shut Down times varied; I have to say that my MacBook didn’t always shut down faster than 10.5 Leopard. But the wake up times where faster, which I like. Apple also mentioned how Mail doesn’t use as much processor or RAM when you don’t have it active. Let me tell you that this is very nice, and it also makes Mail more responsive & fast.
Quicktime X
With Snow Leopard, Apple introduced the next version of Quicktime, Quicktime X. In my point of view, Apple pretty much re-designed Quicktime with this release. Everything has a new fell and look; even when you view media files in a web browser. A couple cool features that Apple added where the ability to send it to iTunes, YouTube, or MobileMe. You can also now “trim” your video, just like on the iPhone 3GS. I also like how when you move your mouse off of the video, the top bar will disappear. It makes the video nicer to view.
New Technologies
Snow Leopard has really come through with some great new technologies, including the new, Grand Central Dispatch. Grand Central really lets you take full potential of those quad- or eight-core processors in the Mac Pro by spreading the tasks to all the processors. This means you could have a lower speed 8 core but still run the final speed of a higher dual-core. Mac OS X 10.6 also is fully 64-bit. A 64-bit OS means applications can handle more Memory (RAM) at a time; 16GB. This also means the system is even more secure against attacks. OpenCL also unleashes the power of the graphics processor. It makes the system capable of using bits of the GPU to make it run better; and believe me, it’s nice. The new technologies in Snow Leopard also have set a building block for future Mac Operating Systems.
Universal Access & Exchange Suppport
Universal Access in Snow Leopard has made Accessibility even better. A couple new refinements/features include faster keyboard navigation, more braile support, custom labels, the rotator, and more. Universal Access now has a brand new VoiceOver quick-start tutorial that will help you get set up with everything. Apple has also put Microsoft Exchange support into their applications. You can now use Mail, Address Book, and iCal with Exchange.
Overall
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard has really come through to be a great upgrade. Apple has really worked on the speed side of things, along with some great fixes & additions. If you’re thinking of getting it, I would go ahead and do it. Snow Leopard makes the “Mac Experience”, and your life, a lot better, smoother, and responsive.
Snow Leopard is $29 (single license) or $59 (family pack). The Mac Box Set, which comes with Snow Leopard, iWork, and iLife, is $169 (single) or $229 (family).
I also posted some screenshots HERE & some short video clips HERE.
Posted by Admin on August 26, 2009 at 14:14 pm
Do you have a Palm Pre, Blackberry, even a PSP and have always wished that you can sync your iTunes library with that device. Well I’ve found a solution for you! Apple doesn’t want 3rd party devices to sync with iTunes, luckily there is freeware that will allow you to sync a 3rd party device with iTunes.
Double Twist is very easy to use, all you have to do is just launch the application and plug in your device, then just simply drag and drop music and videos to transfer them. Double Twist is available for both Windows and Mac, and the best part is it’s FREE!
So there you go, if you need to sync a 3rd party device with iTunes then this is a good and free solution. If you would like to download the app click here.
Posted by Admin on August 25, 2009 at 15:12 pm
Finished Product:
I was just playing around in Photoshop and made this cool image of islands using just a few filters. I posted the image on twitter and some of you wanted to see a tutorial, so here you go.
Note: I will not be posting screenshots because I feel they aren’t needed for this particular tutorial. If you have any questions just @saltytech me on twitter.
- Make a new document, I made it the resolution of my desktop: 1680 x 1050.
- Set your colors to the default, black (foreground) and white (background).
- Go to Filter > Render > Clouds
- Then go to Filter > Sketch > Plaster, adjust the size of the “islands” by playing around with the Image Balance slider.
- Optional: Go to Filter > Artistic > Plastic Wrap.
- Finally Go to Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation and play around with the colors to achieve a nice blue or any other color you like!
Note: The “islands” will look different every time you do this.
There you go it’s that easy, Hope you guys liked the tutorial, I might make more in the future. You have to be registered to leave a comment now, I changed it because of all the spam. If you don’t want to register and have a question just @saltytech me on twitter.
Posted by AppleMitch2008 on August 24, 2009 at 17:37 pm
Hi guys, it’s Mitch. I know i haven’t wrote anything on here for a LONG time, but I’m hoping to change that starting with this post. So today Apple announced that their newest operating system - Snow Leopard - will be available to purchase starting this Friday, 28th August. The announcement was made around 7pm GMT on Apple.com, much to the praise from fans, that have been waiting for this operating system for over 2 years. The newest OS will be priced at a very reasonable $29 (£36) and will include features that are dubbed ‘Next-gen technologies’ and will be Faster, better, and easier to use.
For more information on Snow Leopard, head on over to http://www.apple.com
Posted by Admin on August 24, 2009 at 16:54 pm
Image courtesy of Engadget.
Most of you have heard by now about the upcoming Playstation 3 Slim announced at GamesCon. We all knew this was coming, PS1 slim, PS2 slim, and of course now PS3 slim. The Slim will be released the first week of September for only $300 or 300 Euro. So let’s dive farther into the specs.
- 32 percent lighter
- 36 percent smaller
- Will use 34 percent less power
- 120 GB HDD
As expected the PS3 Slim will take up less room on your shelf and it will be more energy efficient. This is all great news, but the best part is the Price drop. The PS3 is now the same price as the Xbox 360 and just $50 more than the Wii. Unfortunately the Slim is not backwards compatible with PS2 games but it is compatible with PS1 games. The same ports can be found on the Slim as on the regular PS3, which is great. There are 2 USB ports on the front to plug in any accessories.
Probably the most notable change on the Slim (other than the fact that it’s smaller) is the new matte finish, this could be a let down to many because everyone liked the nice piano finish. However think on the bright side, you don’t have to deal with dust as much. Also the touch sensitive buttons are now physical buttons that you press. I don’t really know why Sony removed them but it’s definitely a disappointment.
So that’s about it, what do you guys think about the Slim? Like it, dislike it? Will you buy it? I know I might.
Posted by Admin on August 11, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I haven’t written a blog post in so long, I’ve just been really busy lately. But anyway I am going do a review of an application of the iPod Touch and iPhone called “Ambiance”. It’s a simple app that helps you focus/relax/fall asleep by listening to relaxing looping sounds such as Rain, Campfire, Rain Forest, and much, much more. This app has become one of my favorites, I have been using it so much and you will see why in a little bit. The application has received many updates since it was released; I’ve owned the app from when it was first launched however I haven’t used it much at all before. The app was very simple and basic when it came out but now the GUI has been updated and it looks wonderful, not only that but there are many new sounds that are added constantly, and you are notified when they are added with push notifications. To add sounds to your Ambiance library just browse or search for sounds. Then preview them and if you like to download the 
sound. Then you can listen to it whenever.
There is a timer feature which is really nice so you don’t waste energy. So when you are going to bed you play the sound, turn the timer on, set the time you want the sound to stop playing and finally sleep and let Ambiance do the rest.
I like to plug my iPod Touch in my iHome speaker dock and relax to all of the wonderful sounds in this app. Sometimes I have trouble falling asleep, so at night I use this app to fall asleep easier and faster, and my iPod charges at the same time (because I use the iHome). Overall I think this is a wonderful application that easily earns a 5/5. I find myself using it all the time and at the $0.99 price point, you just can’t beat it. If you are unsure if this is the right app for you there is a lite version that’s free, so try it out and decide for yourself.
