Friday 30 July 2010

Andrew: New Safari 5.1 Update

New in this update:

  • Safari Extensions
    • Customize Safari with features created by third-party developers
    • Find extensions in the Safari Extensions Gallery, accessible from the Safari menu and extensions.apple.com

This update also contains improvements to stability, accessibility and security, including the following:

  • More accurate Top Hit results in the Address Field
  • More accurate timing for CSS animations
  • Better stability when using the Safari Reader keyboard shortcut
  • Better stability when scrolling through MobileMe Mail
  • Fixes display of multipage articles from www.rollingstone.com in Safari Reader
  • Fixes an issue that prevented Google Wave and other websites using JavaScript encryption libraries from working correctly on 32-bit systems
  • Fixes an issue that prevented Safari from launching on Leopard systems with network home directories
  • Fixes an issue that could cause borders on YouTube thumbnails to disappear when hovering over the thumbnail image
  • Fixes an issue that could cause Flash content to overlap with other content on www.facebook.com, www.crateandbarrel.com, and other sites when using Flash 10.1
  • Fixes an issue that prevented boarding passes from www.aa.com from printing correctly
  • Fixes an issue that could cause DNS prefetching requests to overburden certain routers
  • Fixes an issue that could cause VoiceOver to misidentify elements of webpages

Andrew: New Apple Refresh


New iMac’s- Dual-core Intel Core i3 and Core i5, and quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 bring the best performance yet to the iMac line. New discrete ATI Radeon HD processors deliver incredibly smooth, crisp graphics for the most demanding 3D games, creative software and technical applications. iMac displays feature IPS technology to deliver images across a wide 178 degree viewing angle. The SD card slot on the iMac now supports the SDXC format. Customers of the 27-inch iMac have the option to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215 MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times.

e new 21.5-inch 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

  • 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
  • 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
  • 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
  • ATI Radeon HD 4670 discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM;
  • 500GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
  • slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
  • Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
  • AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
  • iSight video camera;
  • Gigabit Ethernet;
  • four USB 2.0 ports;
  • one SDXC SD card slot;
  • one FireWire 800 port;
  • built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
  • Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include up to 8GB of RAM.

The new 21.5-inch 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

  • 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
  • 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
  • 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
  • ATI Radeon HD 5670 discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3;
  • 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
  • slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
  • Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
  • AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
  • iSight video camera;
  • Gigabit Ethernet;
  • four USB 2.0 ports;
  • one FireWire 800 port;
  • one SDXC SD card slot;
  • built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
  • Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Mac Pro- Feature the latest quad-core and 6-core Intel Xeon processors, all-new ATI graphics and the option for up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD). The processors run at speeds up to 3.33GHz and use a single die design so they can share up to 12MB L3 cache, improving efficiency while increasing processing speeds.he systems include an integrated memory controller for faster memory bandwidth and reduced memory latency; Turbo Boost to dynamically boost processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz; and Hyper-Threading to create up to 24 virtual cores. The Mac Pro now comes with the ATI Radeon HD 5770 graphics processor with 1GB of memory and customers can configure-to-order the even faster ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of memory

Mac Pro also now features two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port. The additional Mini DisplayPort output allows customers to connect two LED Cinema Displays without an additional graphics card or adapter and the dual-link DVI port supports legacy DVI-based displays up to a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.

Pricing & Availability

The new Mac Pro will be available in August through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The new quad-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

  • one 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache;
  • 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 16GB;
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
  • two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
  • 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
  • 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW);
  • four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
  • five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
  • AirPort Extreme® 802.11n;
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
  • Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.

The new 8-core Mac Pro, with a suggested retail price of $3,499 (US), includes:

  • two 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor;
  • 6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
  • ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
  • two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
  • 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
  • 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW);
  • four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
  • five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
  • AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
  • Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
  • Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include:

  • one 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3565 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
  • one 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon W3680 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
  • two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5650 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
  • two 2.93 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
  • two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
  • one ATI Radeon HD 5870 card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
  • up to 16GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the quad-core Mac Pro;
  • up to 32GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the 8-core Mac Pro;
  • up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD); or
  • up to four 1TB or 2TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm;
  • Mac Pro RAID card;
  • dual-channel or quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel card; and
  • up to two 18x SuperDrives with double-layer support.

“one more thing”

27″ LED just like 24″ will ship later this year

Magic TrackPad-Apple’s patented multi-touch technology through a smooth glass and aluminum design. It enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of Web pages or photos. pple first brought multi-touch functionality to its desktops last year with the Magic Mouse, a Bluetooth wireless mouse that allows users to use their fingers to scroll and zoom via the surface of the hardware. Every iMac and Mac Pro comes with the Magic Mouse, though users can now order the new Magic Trackpad for $69 as an option.

for $30 you can purchase a apple battery charger each Apple Battery Charger comes with six AA NiMH batteries, intended to allow users to run their keyboard keyboard and mouse or trackpad, while allowing two more for spare charging.

Andrew: New Kindles


The front page of Amazon.co.uk currently sports a letter from founder Jeff Bezos advertising two new Kindle e-Readers, both of which are finally now available directly from the UK store and US Store. Previously, the Kindle could only be ordered from the US store, and users would have buy content for the Kindle from it in dollars. The two new Kindles however are available directly from Amazon.co.uk.

dedicated UK Kindle store will be appearing on 27 August,mazon said and will offer more than 400,000 books, as well as UK newspapers, magazines and blogs.

Both new Kindles are available to pre-order now and will ship on 27 August. The new Kindles cost £149($189) for a 3G and Wi-Fi version, or its £109($139) for a Wi-Fi only variant. Visually both new Kindles look the same and both are only 247g, a 15 per cent weight reduction from the 290g of the Kindle 2. This is down to it having a 21 per cent smaller body. Despite this it keeps the same 6in display as the Kindle 2.

Amazon said that the new screen offers a 50 per cent superior contrast to any other e-reader and thanks to what it described as “Amazon’s proprietary waveform and font technology”, it now has faster page turns and clearer fonts. A browser has been added, based on the WebKit rendering engine and it also has double the storage. The battery is said to last for one month.

The 3G Whispernet service on the 3G enabled model will be available worldwide in over 100 countries and is free at all times, enabling you to download and start reading a book in 60 seconds.

Links-

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Andrew: The Apple Magically Pad!


Apple magic trackpad by Apple is multi-touch pad through a smooth glass and aluminum design. It enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of Web pages or photos. Apple first brought multi-touch functionality to its desktops last year with the Magic Mouse, a Bluetooth wireless mouse that allows users to use their fingers to scroll and zoom via the surface of the hardware. In conjunction with the magic trackpad you can use a magic mouse

All these wireless product will need a batteries? Yes you are so correct you can purchase the Apple battery charge which come with 6 high duty batteries so that means
If you've used a MacBook Pro or MacBook over the last couple of years then what we'll be looking at in this review of the Apple Magic Trackpad is old news. We say that because the technology is the same, the experience is the same, and the usability is the same; anything you can do on the trackpads of the latest MacBook or MacBook Pro laptop range, you can do here. So do you really need to buy this £59 accessory? You need to answer that yourself



My Final Decision

So desktop users should you ditch your mouse? The mouse might be ugly but it will allow you to whizz around the desktop quickly and it is what you are used to. This brings with it a host of new functions and we feel it is better than the company's Magic Mouse offering. At £59 you really want to make sure this is magical enough to replace your current mouse and we would have to say this comes down to how much you enjoy using a trackpad. For MacBook users wanting to bring that touch experience to their desktop Mac, or if dock your MacBook at your desk, then you probably don't need convincing. For us, this gives you the chance to break the excellent touchpad experience out of your notebook and get it on your desk.

Sunday 25 July 2010

Ryan: Apple under promise and over deliver




Have you ordered your FREE iphone4 case yet? Well people who have were meet
with log delivery times of 3-5 weeks and the haters had a field day (and rightly so) I ordered my case 2 days ago and got that very message!

So it was to my surprise when I got this email today!

"Dear Ryan Hoskins,

We are pleased to advise you that your Apple Store order WR************* has been dispatched by mail and will be delivered to your shipping address.

The expected postal time for your order is 3 business days. This is an estimated lead time only and may vary slightly. As your order is being delivered by post there is no tracking available.

Please allow 3-4 days to receive your Invoice. Please note, your Invoice will be sent to you by e-mail and is not included with your delivery."

Happy days!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Friday 23 July 2010

Ryan: Better late than never! Giveaway winners!


So here are the case giveaway winners! better late than never!

Case giveaway -




1. superjon92 - http://www.youtube.com/user/superjon92 - Black case

2. westlake1984 - http://www.youtube.com/user/westlake1984 - Red case

3. SlinkyStudio - http://www.youtube.com/user/SlinkyStudio - clear case

Congratulations everyone!

Please send me a message on YouTube with your address and i will post you the case asap!

Sunday 18 July 2010

Ryan: The Apple iPhone4 Antenna - A must read!


Over the past week i have been studying the iPhone4 antenna problem that has made headlines all over the world and i want to show you the true story. Before i begin i want you to remember that in the eyes of reporters bad news is the best news!

I brought an iPhone4 on the 24th of June from my local Carphone Warehouse store in the UK and upgraded my existing 3GS on the O2 network, from this day i have had great success with the iPhone4 and have found it hard to understand what all the "bad press" was about?

So in the last 48 hours i have started to dig more into this and have found some interesting stuff about the so called "fault" Through my social media connections (YouTube/Twitter) i emailed 50 iphone4 users from the UK and the USA and questioned them about there experiance. before i share my findings i wanted to just show you a clip from an article posted by PC World's Mike Keller -

"
I have an iPhone 4. Generally speaking, reception and call quality far exceeds that of my old 3G. In my own tests, administering the "death grip" (which I will note is a fairly unnatural way to hold the phone, in my opinion) without a case does in fact make bars drop, though it doesn't actually seem to make it less likely to be able to make or sustain a call. Consistent with reports, bars aren't dropped while using a case (I have a Bumper)"

I have also produced my own video around this "death grip" which is an eyeopener -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxQiGFqrpA

Now the data i collected from the 50 people in the UK and USA suggested some strange patterns that have been confirmed in other reports online. Only 1 of the 25 people i asked in the UK found a change in connection when using the phone on a day to day basis with a normal grip (this increased if the tight unnatural death grip is used) where as interestingly 5 of the 25 people i asked in the USA found a change with a normal grip! In the UK Apple has more that one partner for the iPhone meaning this 25 people used a mix of services where as in the USA AT&T are the sole partner and they have been know in recent months for service issues, The question here is are Apple truly to blame for this?

I would like to also point out another article that i have read online that i think hits the spot! -
http://www.pcworld.com/article/200453/antenna_expert_apple_is_right_iphone_4_signal_woes_overblown.html

My conclusion to this is that it feels like the reporters from Gizmodo, the BBC, GSM arena and others smell blood and are out for what they can get and that this would not be happening if it was not the iPhone. These reporters have made me lose respect for the news industry. Apple themselves have shown that all smart phones have this "fault" and i have also shown that in the above video, but is this really a fault? my experience has been great as has the vast majority of people i have spoken to.

Apple has now issued FREE cases to all iPhone4 customers and this seems to stop any problems the small amount of people are having.

Every phone in the world is the best phone in the world to someone, don't become a hater of any product as this shows that you feel this product is a threat to your way of life

To Finish -

1. If you don't like the iPhone don't buy it!
2. If you have brought it and don't like it return it!
3. Understand this is not unique to the iPhone

Friday 16 July 2010

Ryan: Apple to offer FREE iPhone4 cases

What will the haters do now?

Apple is offering a free case to every owner of the iPhone4.

Apple boss Steve Jobs unveiled the offer at a press conference called to tackle the ongoing speculation about the iPhone4's suspected antenna problem.

The case will help overcome a widely reported issue in which phone signal strength was drained when the phone was held a certain way.

Declaring "We're not perfect", Mr Jobs said reception problems were "endemic" throughout the smartphone industry.

To get their free case, owners will be able to apply via the Apple website from 22 July. Mr Jobs said Apple could not make enough for all owners of the phone but would source a supply and offer a range of cases.

Based on retail prices of iPhone cases, supplying one to all three million customers could cost Apple about $180m (£118m).

Mr Jobs also extended an offer to iPhone4 users to give them a full refund if they were still unhappy with the handset's performance. This offer will be available until 30 September.

As you may have seen I produced a video regarding this "Fault" and showed that it was extremely minor and that the media/haters had blown it way out of proportion, But despite this Apple have decided to react and offer a solution to this intermittent problem.

Friday 2 July 2010

Ryan: iPhone4 let's get down to it.


Ok so the world and his dog have brought the iPhone4, the haters have said there piece. Now let get down to it and test this bad boy!

Here we have a video that tests the video capabilities of the iPhone -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IyqAalTafs


We test it in a cool way! Incorporating different light conditions and object speed! We think it's a great video so please shout about it!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone