Top Mac Tips

Mac Surfers Grow

nick — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Net Applications began March by reporting yet another increase in the amount of traffic the stats firm saw online. A poll of its over 40,000 customer sites worldwide showed that 6.38 percent of surfers were using some variant of the Mac OS. The majority of those, 4.29 percent, were using Intel-based Macs, Net Applications said.

The increase was a modest but tangible boost to Apple’s impact over recent months. Use grew slightly over the 6.22 percent reported in January, but represented only a small climb compared to the more impressive 0.55 percent spike seen as 2006 drew to a close.

While not conclusive figures by any means, the regularly released numbers have often served as unofficial barometers of Apple’s marketshare by Net Applications and the industry. Last month’s statistics appear to support claims that Mac sales had doubled year-over-year in January.

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Special Apple Event at NAB

nick — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 09:44:25 +0000

Apple has scheduled a special event during the National Association of Broadcasters which takes place on April 15 in Las Vegas.

The show focuses on solutions for audio-video and photography professionals. Many major players of the creative pros market such Adobe also attend the event.

This special event may be a good occasion for Apple to make some major product announcements both in the software and the hardware side. Some reports recently claimed the company would launch Final Cut Pro 6 during NAB while the new Mac Pros are still very awaited as they haven’t been updated for several months.

Apple has already made product announcements during NAB. It usually announces new versions of its professional audio-video applications such as Final Cut

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Apple Security Update: 2007-002

nick — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:59:38 +0000

Apple released another software update, under Mac OS X’s Software Update feature. The first is a security update that “is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:”

- CoreServices
- iChat
- UserNotificationCenter

Apple also revealed a Daylight Saving Time Update due to recent changes on the dates Daylight Savings will occur this year:
The Daylight Saving Time Update for Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server addresses recent changes in the way Daylight Saving Time will be observed in the U.S. and Canada beginning in March 2007 and includes the latest time zone information for the rest of the world.

More information is at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305056

Other updates also listed by Apple include:

- Java for Mac OS X 10.3 Update 5
- Java for Mac OS X 10.4 Update 5
- WebObjects 5.3.3
- Final Cut Pro 5.1.3

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Samsung’s iPhone clone looks quite good

nick — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 11:16:26 +0000

With all the hype surrounding the iPhone, mainly from the Apple camp, it was certain that everyone else was going to jump on the iPhone bandwagon.

With the announcement of the Sumsung ‘Ultra Smart F700’ , it looks as though Apple’s iPhone will have a run for it’s money!

Samsungs’ F700 shows that it’s not only apple that can make a noise about what they are making. Physically the two are actually remarkably similar with both sporting full facia touch screens though the iPhone actually wins this battle with a 3.5in 480 x 320 display compared to the F700’s 2.78in 440 x 240 panel.
The iPhone has a average but high quality two megapixel camera, the F700 has a rip very impressive five megapixeler with autofocus. Where the iPhone has a touch screen virtual keyboard that fills half the screen the F700 has a proper slide out thumbboard with VibeTonz technology.

The Samsung F700 also has extensive audio and video codec support including Mpeg4, H.263, H.264 (ouch, Apple), Real media, MP3, AAC(+) and eAAC+. A full web browser also makes it inside along with Bluetooth, USB and a microSD expansion slot.

So where does the iPhone hold it’s own compared to the Samsung F700?
• There is no mention of Wifi because 7.2Mbps 3G connections aren’t available everywhere.
• The choice of OS isn’t divulged meaning third party support is called into question
• Samsung lists a ‘Document Viewer’ so as it ships there will be no editing capabilities
• At 104 x 50 x 16.4mm it’s thin for a smartphone but fatter than the iPhone
• No pricing or availability details – it needs to beat the iPhone’s US June release

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Steve Jobs shares his thoughts on Digital Rights Management

nick — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:39:17 +0000

Steve Jobs, the living hero to Apple fans, placed his thoughts on the current state of the music industry and Apple’s role in digital rights management.

The article reminds users that the iPod can play songs that don’t include DRMs, Steve Jobs said that he would like to open its FairPlay technology or totally remove DRMs from songs sold on iTunes, if the record industry would let them. But he added that sharing the super secret Apple DRM code inbedded in iTunes would make it more vulnerable to hacks while majors are against the idea of dropping DRMs totally.

Apple is the worldwide leader in online music sales with more than 2 billion songs sold since the company started this activity. It represents over 80% of the market.

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Next lot of iPods to have Flash Memory

nick — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:32:37 +0000

One of the top mac analysts (Jesse Tortora) claims that Apple are planning to ditch the old spinning hard drives that are currently used in the bigger iPods and go all solid state on iPod fans.

The analyst doesn’t have a great deal of respect with Mac Fans around the world for getting it right, but we can see why it is a logical step to take.

The downside with having solid state memory is the price point of the iPod and te capacity. Flash memory is more expensive, so they will probably put less in or be more expensive to the consumer. The benefits of Flash memory include less heat, noise and power consumption. Theoretically video playback time could increase from 3.5 hours to 5.5.

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Apple Laptops Get Brighter Displays that are lighter on battery juice

nick — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 09:16:15 +0000

Think Secret writes: “Apple’s laptop offerings have sported the brightest displays on the market, a feature Apple has been quick to tout in its product announcements and that the company will continue to spearhead in 2007 and beyond as the it embraces a new generation of LCD panels.”

We have always been happy with the brighter than average displays on our now retired Powerbooks and our shiny new Macbook Pro’s, and we are more than happy to hear that Apple are [okay, might be] incorporating the new technologies in their upcoming machines.

Apparently the new screens use a more energy efficient solution than the traditional cold cathode fluorescent back lights (CCFL) found in most LCD displays on the market today, which is a bonus.

Think Secret also reckon that Apple will be deploying these displays as soon as the end of this quarter.

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