Archive for the News Category
Posted by Admin on September 22, 2009 at 17:39 pm
I know I am a bit late on this but I wanted to let you all know my thoughts on the Recently released Microsoft Zune HD! I did go out to Best Buy to check out the Zune HD in person, and I have to say I am very impressed. The OLED touch screen is very impressive and true to color. The thing you will immediately notice is the fact that the blacks are true blacks not darker tones of gray, like we see on LCD’s.
I really like the design of the device, many say the back is brushed aluminum, however if you get to feel the device in person you will notice it feels more plastic that aluminum, I guess it’s a combination of both. Who knows?
I have never been a fan of the interface of the Zune, I guess I just really love my iPod Touch. However I must say I am starting to like it a bit more. Overall the Zune HD looks great and hopefully will help Microsoft earn a bigger share of the portable music market. So will I buy one? No, I just don’t need one. I have my iPod Touch which serves me well. Do I want one? Of course, who doesn’t? 
Thanks for reading.
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 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 July 15, 2009 at 17:30 pm
Apple released an iTunes update (8.2.1) which it’s main goal was to prevent/not allow Sprints Palm Pre to sync with iTunes. This was expected from the beginning when Palm announced that the Pre can sync with iTunes. Of course Apple wouldn’t allow that to happen, the Pre is a “rival” of the iPhone so it wouldn’t make sense for Apple to allow the Pre to sync with their Media Player/Organizer.
Apple states in the Software update information that:
“iTunes 8.2.1 provides a number of important bug fixes and addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.”
This is bad news to all the Pre owners out there who don’t want to get away from iTunes, however I’ve heard people using “Media Monkey” to sync their Pre with their computer, I don’t know how good it is, but like I said I’ve heard good things about it. Or you can just stay with your current version of iTunes, which in my opinion is your best option.
Also here is Palms response:
“Palm’s media sync works with iTunes 8.2. If Apple chooses to disable media sync in iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Pre, they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we can consider.”
Posted by Admin on July 2, 2009 at 21:29 pm
If you haven’t noticed yet twitter have updated the hourly API call limit from 100 to 150. What does that mean to you? Well you will be able to receive twitter updates more frequently. I 
am expecting the change to spread to all twitter clients sooner or later, but it’s not confirmed yet. Twirl and Tweet Deck are the two I heard have been updated.
Do you notice your twitter client updating more frequently? Let us know in the comments below! Oh and let me know what twitter client you’re using.
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