MacBook Pro 2010 Speculation, What's Next?

Based on evidence in the above screenshot of a new build of OS X 10.6.2, the speculation on the next MacBook Pro has begun, but what can we expect to see?

One thing that we do know, thanks to Apple's Phil Schiller, is that Apple will NOT be making any new products announcements until sometime next year, but according to APC.com:

"That fact hasn't stopped rumors and speculation though. Apple Insider reports that the new MacBook Pro will move from NVIDIA graphics to ATI 45xx series GPUs along with the newest Intel Core i7 CPUs.

It's not hard to image Apple shedding NVIDIA GPUs and moving towards AMD parts with all the issues that NVIDIA had with the 9400 GPU line that Apple uses now. The two new machines are pegged as high-end models. We can only wait and see if these rumors pan out at this point."

Well, I guess that's a reasonable assumption to make considering all of NVIDIA's recent woes, but what else could we expect to see, if anything? My guess is as good as yours on that one, but the one thing that I do know and hope for is that it might get one of those new fangled OLED screens that people love to drool over, provided of course, that they can overcome certain characteristics of today's screens, namely that they look gorgeously sharp and bright indoors, but look completely faded, dull and washed outdoors! Samsung is promising that it could have OLED based laptops out as early as next year, so why not Apple?

In addition to possible new OLED screens, naturally I would also love to see Apple come out with one that also doubled as a multi-touch screen as well. In addition to that, naturally, it can also be expected that Apple will be adding one or more of Intel's new wickedly fast and bad-ass i5 and i7 processors to the mix! Yeah, like that would be totally radical and would give all of those new multi-touch Windows 7 laptops a real good run for their money, and especially when considering that the MacBook would also include what they don't - like its mighty fine multi-touch track pad and its new optional multi-touch Magic Mouse, which might make them a type of multi-touch over kill, but also - one to kill for!

I'm pretty certain the next MacBooks will be getting the newer quad i5 and i7s, but the OLED screens that I'm not too sure of, and the same goes for the multi-touch screen aspect, but it's always so fun to speculate and dream isn't it? These dream features would be expensive, especially the OLED part, and, would require of me, if I want to buy one, achieving just one more dream of mine - that of wining the lottery! But, what ever, as always, I'm still looking forward to seeing the next crop of Apple gear regardless of what they might, or might not contain, and even though it's just a personal hunch, I believe that we could be in for some surprises, and pleasant ones at that!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 30, 2009

Screenshot via: APC.com

Camino Beta 2: Can It Out Fox - FireFox?

Millions swear by Firefox, the world's number 2 browser in market share. Firefox is available for Windows, OS X and Linux machines and offers a wealth of features and security enhancements. There was a time when it was even my default browser, but even though I now prefer Safari 4.0 and the latest Opera, you have to admit that all of those customizable aspects makes it easy to see why some can't live without it, especially with all of those Firefox extensions.

Well, it may not offer all of those same number of features or extensions, but there is another alternative for Mac Firefox users, namely - Firefox - only it's not called Firefox, but rather Camino! Confused? You needn't be, as Camino is a very special version of Firefox that is designed specifically just for the Mac, along side the regular Firefox - so if your a Windows or Linux user, sorry, you need not apply!

Firefox... excuse me, I mean Camino is currently at version 1.6, but there is a newer release candidate version 2. TechCrunch, which has been testing it for the past several months, is reporting that, like all previous versions of Camino, it runs rock solid! It also looks like it will finally arrive before Google's Chrome for Mac does as well, which is swell if your a dedicated Camino user, of which there are many.

Techcrunch is also reporting that Camino 2 is also faster than the current version, which is no slouch by the way, and it will include several other improvements such as in its appearance. Camino as always been very Spartan in its appearance, which is either a good or bad thing, depending on how you view such things.

If you never tried Camino - what-on-earth are you waiting for? It's a most excellent browser, so please feel free, if you like, to download it here. And if your the more adventuress type you can always download the Camino 2.0 Beta 4 here, but be forewarned of the following known issues:

- Delete no longer functions as a keyboard shortcut for Back.

- Scroll bars will appear active at all times.

- If “Ask me before accepting each cookie” is checked, Camino will display a cookie dialog for each cookie request from a web page.

- Camino no longer supports Shockwave Player 10 and older; to display Shockwave content, install Shockwave Player 11 or newer.

- Version 2.2 of the Flip4Mac (F4M) plug-in for displaying Windows Media content causes major rendering issues in Camino. The Flip4Mac team has fixed this problem in version 2.2.1.11 of the plug-in.

- After visiting enough pages with Flash content while browsing, Camino may stop functioning correctly. Quitting and re-launching Camino will resolve the problem. This behavior is caused by a bug in the Flash plug-in and is fixed in version 10.0 of the plug-in.

- Some versions of the third-party add-on 1Password are not compatible with Camino. These versions can cause Camino to crash on launch, hang when importing bookmarks, and hang when pasting into the location bar. Make sure that you are running the latest version of 1Password, and if you continue to experience issues, disable 1Password’s integration with Camino and contact 1Password support.

Note: Before using this beta version of Camino, create a backup copy of your profile folder (~/Library/Application Support/Camino/).

From experience with previous versions of this Mac only version (of Firefox) goes, I can recommend it highly. I rather love the simplicity of its design and its lack of bloat. It was always a solid, stable and fast browser and the fact that it's only available for the Mac is kind of a cool thing too! I have yet to try the beta for Camino 2, but if your interested in beating me in downloading it yourself, well....I'm downloading it as I write this... wait.... it's here and it's running now... and it just told me there's an even newer update, which is in the process of installing!

Well, that was fast, the newer beta update was just installed and presented me with the following warning dialog below:

Of course, I've only been running Camino 2 beta now for, oh.... bout .. 11 or so seconds now, but so far, so good! All seems to be fine and dandy. It's fast, looks nice and I can't see anything amiss... it's working fine! Well, obviously, I need more time to check it out, but I'm liking what I see so far. Maybe, after reading my beloved German online newspapers for an hour or so, it will be a different matter, but unless or until this beta starts acting up I will stick with it, and only return to the stable Camino 1.6 if I have to.

In conclusion, as far as my 35 seconds with the latest beta of Camino 2 goes, all I will say is.... me likes it, and me likes it a lot! Can it out fox - FireFox? Possibly, but only if you don't need all of its extension and only if your on a Mac!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 29, 2009

ComputerWorlds Smack Down: Windows 7 vs Snow Leopard

Since releasing Windows 7, Microsoft's latest and greatest OS has been compared with OS X and numerous people have written various reviews of how well they stack up, one against the other.

However, of all of these reviews, thus far, one of the better ones comes from long time IT professional, Michael DeAgonia. In an article for ComputerWorld, entitled: "Smackdown: Windows 7 takes on Apple's Snow Leopard," Mr. DeAgonia brings out the highs and the lows from each OS and gives a fair and balanced review of how they both stack up.

First off, naturally, Mr. DeAgonia reviews the comparisons between upgrading the two respective OS's. In that regard, he says they both do fairly well, but for the Mac at least, one important difference he brings out is that:

"For Mac users, it doesn't matter whether you're upgrading from Leopard or even Tiger. There's no demand for installation codes or awkward activation hoop-jumping, and Apple streamlined the upgrade process to make it easier and quicker than before."

Because of possible anti-trust violations, Mr. DeAgonia notes that Windows 7 doesn't come with a lot of things pre-installed that it once included previously, like an email program, photo manager, video creator, etc. They are available as a free download option separately, in a package Microsoft calls Windows Live Essentials, and one in which Computerworld says:

"Here's the thing about Windows Live Essentials: The bundle offers programs that sound like they do the same things as Apple's suite of applications, whether it's photo management, video creation or video/audio and chat conferencing. But the Windows versions are so bare-bones that I wonder whether Microsoft expects most users to work with them to any great degree or opt instead for more full-featured third-party apps. The basics are here, but Apple's software is best of breed. It's unfortunate that Microsoft didn't put more effort into beefing up these apps."

When it comes to networking, Michael says that he finds Windows 7 to be much improved, but notes that:

"Connecting to wireless networks has been this easy on a Mac for as long as I can remember; it's about time something this basic was straightforward on the Windows side."

When it comes to the interface, Windows 7 may be much improved, but Mr. DeAgonia writes:

"Overall, Snow Leopard's interface is cleaner, with lots of tiny usability niceties. Windows 7 is better than its predecessors, but there's still a ways to go. Just take a look at Microsoft's Control Panels, which throw in every option and the kitchen sink; Apple's design for System Preferences in Snow Leopard is more streamlined and functional."

One of the biggest changes that Microsoft made in Windows 7 is with the task bar. It has been redesigned to include a new preview feature that is activated when you hover your mouse over it. Many seem to like this particular hovering feature, but not so much so for Mr. DeAgonia, who says:

" I hate the hover feature. When I'm focused on the content in front of me, I usually move my cursor to the bottom of the screen to get it out of the way. Bad move in Windows 7. Depending on how many applications you have open or where the mouse settles, you could inadvertently trigger the Taskbar preview. Apple's Dock has a similar application-tiling preview, but it's more of an opt-in feature that can't be inadvertently triggered, since it requires a click and hold of the application's icon in the Dock."

One of the things that Microsoft coveted the most from OS X, he points out, was its searching tool, Spotlight. Indeed, Microsoft has improved upon its own search in Windows 7, but when compared to OS X's Spotlight, Mr. DeAgonia tends to side with OS X, saying:

"So, while Windows 7 offers up better and faster search results than its predecessors, it's still not Spotlight. The results aren't as comprehensive. "

When it comes to security not only is Windows 7 much better than XP, but in one case it is even better than Snow Leopard, as Mr. DeAgonia sights when he writes:

"One enhancement that is better employed here than even on Snow Leopard is Address Space Layout Randomization. This security method arbitrarily arranges the position of key data, making it difficult for exploits to take advantage of predictable target addresses.

Certainly, Windows 7 is more secure than Windows XP, which most users are still running. And it should be a step up from Vista."

Of course, even though Microsoft has made some progress in security, as his article points out, he still prefers the security protection that BSD and other open-source models provide over that of anything that Microsoft has thus far cooked up, something that I too agree with. In other matters Mr. DeAgonia states:

"Despite Microsoft's attempts to remodel the kitchen, holes remain in the house's foundation. Hardware compatibility is much better this time around, but after the Vista debacle, it had better be. And yet, the Windows Registry still lives. The Registry is a central location for storing application and system preferences -- and when it gets corrupted, all kinds of problems can crop up.

Windows 7 does nothing to remedy this. In fact, after using Windows 7 for a few weeks, I couldn't even install software due to a Registry error."

When it comes to the bottom line, Windows 7 may be a better Windows, but it's still not a better OS than Snow Leopard, and when it comes to the interface, well I have to agree with Mr. DeAgonia when he writes:

"In terms of pure interface, Microsoft has raised the bar for Windows users. Windows 7 is the best-looking OS out of Redmond, Wash., yet. But let's not confuse that with "innovation.

Many of these features aren't new at all, and many have been available on Mac OS X for years. While Windows 7 closes the gap with Snow Leopard, it does so only at a superficial level. At first, I was impressed with the interface changes and got caught up in the beauty of the Aero themes and sleek look. But after a few weeks of use, reality began to set in. After a Registry issue prevented me from installing an app, I realized Windows 7 is still Windows. Prettier, a little snappier than Vista, perhaps more stable. But at some point, you still face many of the underlying issues that have made Windows a pain to use in the past."

ComputerWorld's article, of course, goes into much more detail and is a must read. For me it brings things into a much more proper focus. Sure, at first glance, Windows 7 might seem to be better, but is it really? Yes, in many ways it is, but in other ways - not really. A lot of the Windows 7 reviews that I have read, thus far, seem to be similar to those of a little boy just smitten with a case of 'puppy love', and like all puppy love it's far from being the real deal, and like most, it probably won't last too long. Windows 7 might look good now, but time will be the deciding factor here. Once the veneer and the make-up starts to wear off, people may find that Windows 7 looks pretty much like its predecessors - butt ugly! Mr DeAgonia also suspects that like all previous Windows OS's, its performance will degrade over time, something that has already been demonstrated and should continue to become even more pronounced the longer that Windows 7 is deployed.

In conclusion, Windows 7 is all about keeping up with appearances, and more about trying to give the image that it is just as good as any Linux or Unix based OS out there, and one that goes especially for OS X , the one OS that gave it so much its inspiration in the first place! Microsoft's newest upgrade is a fine upgrade indeed, but only as far as Windows goes. It doesn't go quite far enough for many, and, to a large degree, it's nothing more than mere window dressing on Microsoft's part, because, at the end of the day, when comparing Windows 7 to Snow Leopard goes, and as Michael DeAgonia concluded:

"My final verdict in this smackdown? It's not even close: Snow Leopard is the better OS."

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Windows 7 screen shot: ComputerWorld

Windows 7: Is The Party Over?

After the disaster known as Vista, Microsoft has been getting a lot of something that it's not generally really known for - praise!

Yes, its newest OS, Windows 7, has been garnering praise by the bucket loads for its UI, stability, security, speed and its newest OS X inspired features such as Aero Peek and its new so-called super task bar.

However, despite all of the praise, a lot of it deserved, not all reports have been so glowing or so kind. A growing number of articles are reporting that it's not all a bed of roses for Microsoft's new baby. It now appears that Windows 7 is just that - Windows! Yes, the dreaded registry and DLL are still all there and the problems of Windows past, though not as pronounced as Vista, is beginning to rear its ugly head as you can see from a growing number of reports below:

- Students find problems with Windows 7 upgrade

- Less than 24-hours on and a potential Windows 7 Achilles' heel surfaces.

- The seven deadly sins of Windows. Microsoft's new OS suffers from them all.

- Deja Vista: That's the impression we got about Windows 7

- Windows 7 review: 'New' OS is just Vista with small changes

- Experts: Windows 7 security tool still a concern

- Ten reasons Windows 7 could flop

- Windows 7 boots slower than Vista, study says

- Opinion: M'soft must do better with Windows 8

And it doesn't help that growing number of reports comparing Windows 7 to OS X is showing that the latter is besting it either. But, to be fair, OS's are complex beasts and it's only natural to expect that some problems will arise, as they have done recently with Snow Leopard. Some of these problems will, no doubt, be address by Microsoft quickly. Still, when you really think about it, what makes really makes Windows 7 seem so good, what makes it seem so much better, faster, and what have you, isn't really so much that Windows 7 is so good, but rather that its predecessor - Vista was so bad! Vista, or as I like to call it - Vista 1, was simply so bloated, so slow, so buggy that any other OS would naturally seem to be fast, stable, secure and bug free in comparison!

What Microsoft really had going in its favor, when designing Windows 7, was that it had a great model from which to copy from - OS X Leopard! That's correct, if it wasn't for good old Apple's OS X Leopard, bad old Microsoft wouldn't have ever, no, not in a zillion, ga-zillion years, have ever come up with many of its features like translucent windows, Aero Peek, previews, 3D Flip (which I think is flop) or some of the other features that make Windows 7 seem to be so cool that it comes across as such a hot product!

Snow Leopard and Vista are the two OS's that everyone likes to compare Windows 7 with, since Snow Leopard is so good and Vista was so bad. When you think of Windows 7 in comparison to these two OS's, I guess, it's not hard to come up with the notion that Windows 7 is somewhere in between the two - not so bad; not so good! Windows 7, for me, is an OS that is certainly better than Vista, but definitely as not as good as OS X. In the end, for a lot of Windows users, it doesn't really matter, because millions of these Windows users are now former Windows users, and as Aharon Etengoff wrote recently:

"..... Ditching Windows has never felt so good."

That's because Aharon, like millions of other former Windows users, is now a dedicated Mac user, and as he further goes on to say:

"I must confess that I was unable to stomach the thought of dealing with yet another iteration of Windows - despite the fact that 7 is light years ahead of Vista and XP. Yes, the system scales well, is ostensibly quite stable and will probably help to kickstart a struggling hardware market.

But I am certainly not going to celebrate its debut. Windows 7 has come too late for this nostalgic tech journalist who is perfectly satisfied with the quiet stability of a graceful Snow Leopard."

He's not alone. I recently met a long time Windows user who personally told me that even though he had been using Windows 7 RC for the past four months, and thought it was much better than Vista, it wasn't enough - he simply had enough of Microsoft and he wanted to learn something new, something better and after seeing his friend's, a former Windows user, new MacBook and its ability to run anything that they could throw at it from the Windows side, he was convinced that the Mac and OS X were the way to go. Last time I saw him, he was off to happily buy himself a new 15 inch Macbook Pro.

So, is the party over for Windows 7? Not quite yet, but the party is beginning to fizzle and as good as Microsoft's new OS might be perceived, the real party should really begin in a little over a year's time after Apple's next big cat arrives. This new cat should have a lot that Snow Leopard doesn't - namely tons of whiz- bang new features that should make it so cool that it should take a hell-of-a-lot of steam out of Microsoft's presently hot-selling OS.

Now that's going to be one party that's really worth celebrating.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 26, 2009

Will iMacs Ever Get Built-In Touch Screens?

Now that Windows 7 has been launched along with an ever increasing number of PCs equipped with built-in touch screens, the question is: will we ever get to see similar touch screens in an iMac, and if so, just how soon?

Despite Apple's multi-touch iPhone, its MacBook's multi-touch track pads and its new multi-touch "Magic Mouse", the world's first multi-touch mouse, so far Apple has not seen fit to equip any of its offerings, be it laptops or desktops, with such screens.

Well, one clue that indicates the possibility, that they may indeed be coming, strangely comes with the help from rogue Mac cloner Psystar. Recently it came out with a new $ 50 piece of software, the EFI Rebel, a bootloader, that allows anyone, with a computer with the right specs, to easily and cheaply add OS X Snow Leopard to just about any generic PC of their choice.

CrunchGear recently decided to give Psystar's EFI Rebel bootloader software a go, and after several failed attempts, or so they thought, they not only finally ultimately succeeded in creating their very own Hackingtosh running on one of HP's Smart Touch computers with its built-in touch screen, but even more amazingly they discovered that OS X, without any further modification or extra work, was easily able to drive its touch screen perfectly straight out of the box!

You can view Psystar's EFI Rebel installing OS X on HP's touch computer in the video at the beginning of this post, and clearly seeing OS X driving the touch monitor is a major clue that multi-touch is not only already baked into OS X itself, but that it also implies that Apple is seriously considering, at some point, on introducing iMacs and MacBooks with built-in touch screens themselves!

Of course, as we all know, Apple just recently updated their line of iMacs with some pretty impressive LED based screens. None of them, however, include built-in touch screens, but Apple clearly stated that they have some pretty exciting products in the pipeline for 2010 and that, in addition to a much rumored Mac tablet, I firmly believe could also include iMacs, and MacBooks, with built in touch screens as well. After all, why bother to include multi-touch capabilities into any OS unless your planning on implementing them at some stage? Yes, I know that it's probably needed to help drive those touch mice and track pads, but with people beginning to flock towards these new fangled Windows 7 touch screen computers, can Apple be all that far behind, and especially since it was Apple that kick-started this whole multi-touch craze with its iPhone in the first place? I think not!

Unfortunately, we all will still have to wait a little bit longer, at least until sometime in 2010 to find out exactly if and when, but with the buzz over the ever increasing number of multi-touch equipped Windows 7 PCs, surely Apple will have no choice but to offer them sooner rather than later if they plan on directly competing with those same touch screen based computers.

Even though I personally find that multi-touch track pads and mice, for the most part, to be much more preferable to a large vertical touch screen, and that multi-touch is best left to smaller devices and peripherals like mice, track pads and iPhones, etc., I still think that they have their place and are inevitable on the big iMac screen. Multi-touch on large touch screens, at least for some things anyway, like manipulating large numbers of photos, selecting music tracks, or simply skimming around the world in Google earth can be a real blast and and add somewhat to the overall computing experience. Most other things, however, not so much so, and since touch screens, like those on the HP Smart Touch, add extra little cost, but can also add a lot of fun and extra capabilities to any machine, they are probably the wave of the future, a future that Apple dare not let Microsoft get an upper hand on.

So, in conclusion, as much as I hate the idea that Psystar would be so arrogant as to start selling their EFI Rebel bootloader, the fact that it enabled OS X Snow Leopard to not only run on a PC, but to also drive it's built-in touch screen natively, without any modification, is the best clue that Macs with built-in multi-touch screens are are not only possible, but inevitable and not that far off.

At least I hope so!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October 25, 2009

Nokia vs Apple: Is Nokia's Desperate?

The press is making a big deal out of Nokia's decision to go after Apple, which it claims is violating 10 of its patents relating to certain standards, namely those that have to do with GSM and 3G mobile telephony, or UMTS or W-CDMA, and for unnamed local wireless area net work technologies or LAN, and possibly relating to the popular Wi-Fi standard.

It's important to note that Nokia, however, doesn't own any of these standards, but obviously feels that some of its technologies used for implementing them are being violated.

However, BusinessWeek is pointing out that Nokia's treat may be no where as threatening as it may first appear, reporting that:

"While the suit is presumably intended to force Apple to cough up royalty payments, it could also be a negotiating tactic by Nokia to gain access to Apple technologies via a settlement. But Richard Windsor of brokerage Nomura International in London says the suit isn't "as big as it looks." Nokia is pursuing claims, he says, for "essential patents" that it is required to share at reasonable cost—not more rarefied intellectual property for which it could charge what it likes. That likely gives Nokia less leverage at the bargaining table.

Another analyst speculated that Nokia may be trying to head off a potential infringement lawsuit from Apple. Nokia is planning to release handsets with multi-touch features for which Apple may own intellectual property rights, UBS Investment Research analyst Maynard Um wrote in an Oct. 22 research note. "We believe Nokia's suit could be a pre-emptive move," Um wrote. He expects Apple to countersue Nokia, and that the two will eventually reach a settlement that includes agreements to license each other's technology."

If thats the case, and I was planing on violating Apple's sweeping multi-touch patents, as some speculate, then I too would be tempted do the same as Nokia. However, whether or not that strategy pans out for Nokia is another thing altogether. After all, Steve Jobs, on the introduction of the iPhone, stated clearly that Apple would vigorously defend any and all of its iPhone patents. Tim Cook and others have repeatedly said the same, which thus far Apple hasn't exactly carried out against rival Palm's blatant use of Apple's patents in its Pre.

Some speculate that's because Apple's patents won't hold up in court, but I don't buy that. They site prior art, since universities have been experimenting with multi-touch for some years now. However, as true as that is, that is not what happened a few years ago involving a case between Apple and Creative. Apple actually was selling the iPod for several years, but since Creative managed to get the patent for the UI, used in the iPod, granted just days before Apple applied, it was the latter who ended up having to pay Creative $100 million dollars. I see no difference here. Failing to take out a patent shows abandonment, does it not? Thats not something anyone intent on commercializing something would neglect to do.

Since it was Apple that actually took the technology, taking it out of the lab were it ran on huge and bulky million dollar equipment, and made it practical and economical for daily use, and since no one ever thought enough of multi-touch to take the time and effort to patent it (they had years to do so!), but Apple did - they should have no trouble in defending and having its patents enforced! Of course, I'm not a patent lawyer, but you can bet your last Tootsie Roll that Apple has legends of them and they probably know full well that their chances of enforcing its patents are strong, and you can bet that Apple won't just sit idly by either!

Just like Palm, Nokia is desperate and is simply grasping at straws, because as many people have also pointed out, if Apple is guilty, then so is every other mobile manufacturer out there, be it RIM, Motorola, LG, etc. Why is it that Nokia is only going after Apple and not others? After all, shouldn't Nokia be going after Apple's suppliers - it they who, after all, licensed the technology to Apple, not the other way around! Again, I can think of only two reasons for Nokia's suit - desperation and an attempt, on Nokia's part, to get legal access to Apple's iPhone patents for use in its future phones. It's a gamble on Nokia's part.

In conclusion, as far as I see it, Nokia is acting like a shameless and greedy patent troll, nothing more, nothing less, and one whom itself, is desperately trying to get a "free ride" on the back of the iPhone's success!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 23, 2009

Apple's Amazing Rise: Is It Unstoppable?

As you can see in the above video, CNBC's Jim Cramer is bullish about Apple and particularly its stock. He's predicting that the stock, which recently hit an all time record of $205 , could be going even higher - a lot higher - like as in $300 to $390 high!

Apple's Q4 results were its best ever, and yet despite this, its best days may yet still lay ahead of it. From almost certain death, some 12 years ago, to today where Apple now sits in the position of being the best run, the most profitable and the most influential tech company in the world, and Apple has clearly, as Forbes put it, seems to have most, if not all, of the momentum in its favor.

With the growing acceptance of the Mac, both in the home and in an ever increasing number of business's, and Apple's highly successful line of iPods and iPhones, some are now saying that Apple is unstoppable, and many give their reasons, as in the case of PCMag.com's Tim Bajrin, who says:

"Given Apple's increased dominance in the smartphone and MP3-player space, as well as the company's gains in consumer and business mindshare with the Mac platform, Apple is perhaps the most influential company in the personal computer and CE market. And this is driving its competitors crazy."

I remember it so well, when PCers would constantly ask me when Apple was going out of business. It was a time when I also remember that Apple's market cap was around 2 to 3 billion dollars and when Dell had a market cap of around 90 billion dollars! Now a days, of course, Dell is still a big company, with a 30 billion dollar market cap, but whoah..... just look at Apple will yah - its market cap is around 185 billion dollars, or some six times that of Dell's! Clearly, as CNBC pointed out recently, Apple seems to be on the rise, while Dell is on the demise!

Whether or not Apple continues to rise, of course, will depend on a lot of things that are completely out of its control, like the economy for instance, but you have to admit, as BloggingStocks correctly observed, Apple has been 'nothing short of amazing'!

Hopefully, with its latest crop of iMacs, MacMini's and its upcoming product pipeline that should see Apple unleash a new, and highly anticipated, tablet computer, Apple will continue to do as well in the future as it is doing presently, and maybe, who knows, maybe even more so.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 22, 2009

The New iMacs: Big, Bold and Beautiful!

The wait is over - the new iMac are here, and it's a beauty - all glorious 27 inches of it! Yesterday, as rumored, Apple released new 21 and 27 inch LED based iMacs, a new beefed up Mac Mini, including an OS X server based model, and a totally new and utterly different multi-touch mouse!

First off, the new 27 inch iMac is the one that I've been dreaming and waiting for, and, hopefully, sometime next month when they are available, this is the one that I will personally buy. Now with a choice of "Nehalem" processors, namely either the i5 or the i7 (my choice), beefier graphics including a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4850, memory upgradeable to 16GB DDR of SDRAM, and with an optional 2TB hard drive, the specs of the new top-of-the-line iMac features more than enough oomph to power anything that you care to throw at it.

The based 21..5-inch iMac also offers up some pretty impressive specs as well. These feature options that include a dual Intel core 2 Duo running at 3.33Ghz (3..02Ghz standard), memory of up to 8 GB of DDR3 SDRAM, and up to a 2TB ATA drive, meaning that this machine is no slouch either. Both machines now also offer a new Apple remote for $19, and at long last - they both finally include built-in SD slots!

The new Mac Mini now comes with a Core 2 Duo running at either 2.26 Ghz or 2.53 Ghz, with up to 4 GB RAM (2GB standard), and up to a 500GB Serial ATA Drive (160GB standard). Since a lot of the Mini's are actually sold to business's that use them as low cost servers, it's not surprising that Apple has now address this market specifically with a new Mac Mini server model.This has no SuperDrive, but you can order the External SuperDrive for it. In place of the usual SuperDrive, the server Mini comes with Dual 500GB Serial ATA Drives and features 4GB of 1066Mhz DDR SDRAM of memory.

Apple's amazing new multi-touch mouse, the Magic Mouse, seen above, was also released yesterday. This brings multi-touch capabilities to any and all Intel based Macs. Already a lot of Windows users are asking if they too can use it on their Windows machines. Some say that you can, but personally I'm not too sure? I am sure that this is one mouse that is completely unlike anything that people are now using and it looks like a winner to me. Unfortunately, for some reasons, at least for the moment anyway, it does not include the "Pinch" command, the one that allows you to zoom in or out with your fingers. However, that is something that Apple can easily address with a future software update.

Even though I have yet to play with any of Apple's newest gear, they certainly look compelling and especially the top-of-the-line 27 inch iMac. I mean the original 24 inch was huge, enormous and gargantuan, but for crying out pig livers - just imagine - a whopping 27 inches of glorious LED super sized goodness! I wonder how long it be before HP, Dell, Acer and others PC OEMs start scrambling to come out with their own versions, because no other PC manufacturer currently offers an all-in-one computer with such an eye-popping screen size. Surely the new 27 inch iMac will now set the standard that others will now be forced to follow.

My personal thoughts on the new crop of iMacs are that they are dandy ones indeed, but, however, they didn't offer everything that I was necessarily hoping for either. I really wanted, for instance, a desktop keyboard with the built-in MacBook multi-touch track pad. Also, even though the chin of the new iMacs appear thinner than the previous models, I was hopping for a model that was more in line with the esthetics of the 24 inch Cinema monitor, and one without any chin at all! I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if Apple will soon also be upgrading it, as well, with a 27 inch version. At least I sure hope so.

The prices seem better, but I was hoping for even lower ones, but I guess we can't have everything. It's a good start, but this is only the beginning. Next year Apple will - actually they will have no choice - but to start coming out with far cheaper and far more innovative products. The reason is simple enough - the competition! Already Microsoft and PC manufactures are hitting on Apple's pioneering work on bringing multi-touch features from the iPhone to their own software and hardware products and it's going to be imperative that Apple keep themselves several steps ahead of the game if it wish's to differentiate itself from the rest of the pact and continue to remain the leader of the tech world.

In conclusion, nonetheless, the new iMacs are Big, Bold and absolutely Beautiful!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Wednesday, October 21, 2009

After Yesterday's Spectacular Apple Quarterly Results, Will We See Spectacular New Macs Today?

Yesterday, Apple did it again - they announced yet another record breaking quarter - its best ever!

Not only did Apple sell a record number of new Macs, some 3 million plus, a record number of iPhones, some 7 million plus, and made a profit of over $1.6 billion on revenues of close to $10 billion, but the best may be yet to come in the form of newer and cheaper priced Macs, starting as early as today!

In addition to new iMacs, a new Mac Mini is expected to be introduced with even one model possibly sporting OS X server rather than just the client version of Snow Leopard! Also expected is a new multi-touch mouse and possibly what I've been dreaming about for a long time now - a new keyboard with a built-in multi-touch track pad, just like those found on the recent MacBooks!

Apple traditionally rolls out new gear on Tuesdays and I can only hope that today will be one of them. Faster and sexier new iMacs would be fantastic, but all the more so if it's true that they will come with lower prices. In this economy, with cheap Windows 7 gear on the immediate horizon, this is exactly just what Apple needs in order to better compete with Microsoft and all of the Dells, Acers and HPs of the world. Macs with higher specs, but with lower prices, would go a long way in increasing the Mac's overall competitiveness and its market share.

As far as new Macs and peripherals go, I will be out all day and maybe, just maybe, by the time I get back tonight they will have been announced? Let's all hope so anyway, or at least real soon, because after yesterdays incredible quarterly results, if they add them today, it would be like adding candy to Apple's already amazing success story, making it all that more delicious in the process.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The iPhone And The Attack of The Droid!

Verizon is attacking both the iPhone and AT&T in the above ad with its new Android based phone, the Droid. The ad attacks the iPhone for what it doesn't have. Some may find it effective and clever, but for some thinking people, like my two or three readers and myself, well.... I think we can all safely say its anything but!

Yes, its true the iPhone doesn't have a 5 mega pixel camera, nor does it have widgets, or does it do multi-tasking, or have a physical keyboard, but thinking people can can easily see past them, and as Technologizer says:

"Of course, the fact that the Droid beats the iPhone on a number of spec- and feature-related fronts doesn’t make it a breakthrough. It’s quite common for smartphones to theoretically trump the iPhone in multiple ways, but the iPhone’s level of hardware/software/service integration and the vast quantity of available apps remain unique."

All of those different specs don't make it a better phone, and as Technologizer also correctly points out, and something that Verizon doesn't want you to think about is: THEY DON"T OFFER OVER 81,000 apps like the iPhone, nor do they connect to biggest and baddest music store of them all - iTunes!

Yes, as great as the iPhone is, it's software and hardware integration combined with the APP STORE is what really makes it trounce every other smart phone out there, including Verizon's new Droid, and puts it in a position that makes it almost impossible for them to ever catch up with, let alone to surpass it.

Another thing that Verizon doesn't want you to think about is that Apple can easily update the iPhone's specs to match or exceed theirs any old time they feel like it. What Verizon and others are offering isn't anything out of the ordinary or special. For them to update their copy-cat app stores with the sheer number and quality of apps, however, will be anything but easy. At the same time, Verizon's "iDon't" ads shows off very little of the Droid itself, but it does, on the other hand, shows off rather a lot too, namely - Verizon's desperation! A little better specs, in some areas, won't make a big difference, in the end, in their plans of killing off the iPhone, as other competitors have already found out.

The attack of the Droid isn't the first, nor will it be the last, on the iPhone, but until Verizon and others can come up with something that is not only a little different, but rather something that can really make a big difference, then the iPhone has little to fear from these so called iPhone killers.

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, October 19, 2009

PS. Tom Restman, one of the best tech writers to be found anywhere, has this excellent article on Verizon's "iDont" ad found here.

Windows 7 Biggest Competior Is.....

Next week, Microsoft will officially launch its highly anticipated Windows 7, but who actually is it really competing with?

Is its biggest competitor OS X or is it Linux?

Well, as John Gruber of Daring Fireball correctly points out:

"Windows 7’s biggest competitor will be Windows XP, which runs on about 80 percent of PCs, according to combined analyst reports. Microsoft’s first challenge will be getting XP users to move up to Windows 7."

Yes, even though it's certainly competing with both OS X and Linux in one sense, it's really more of case of mind share with them rather than market share, since Windows already has the bulk of that. Windows 7 biggest competitor, and its biggest problem - Windows XP!

As far as Apple goes, in fact, it seems to be actually looking forward to the release of Windows 7 because it firmly believes that it will further drive growth of the Mac, a computer that appeals far more to the well-to-do crowd, than the bottom-of-the-barrel folks who constitutes the majority of Window users, and who are more concerned with the low prices of PCs rather than quality, something that is the highlight of the higher-ended Macs!

I, for one, believe that Windows 7 will be more successful than Vista (hard to believe how anything wouldn't be), but I certainly don't think it will be anywhere near as successful as some are predicting it will be either, because underneath Windows 7.... it's still Vista! Yes, its cleaned up, and has a host of new OS X inspired improvements, but still that doesn't make it better than OS X! Closer to, yes, but actually better... NO!

Windows 7 simply address's the mistakes of Vista's past; while OS X address's the future, a future that will be faster, more powerful and offer the ability to do things that are utterly unthinkable of doing today. The belief that Windows 7 will be adopted mostly by new PC purchasers is certainly correct, but that doesn't mask the fact that the overall majority of PC users are still, and probably will still be.... XP users, and they are not going to be too eager to start throwing out their one, two and three year old computers just in order to be able to use Windows 7!

Already tests are beginning to prove that the longer you use Windows 7, the slower and buggier it gets, and this is something that I have the sneaky feeling will only get worse as time goes by. After all, this has long been the case with previous versions of Windows and apparently Windows 7 will be no different. On the other side of the coin, I predict that the next version of OS X, of which Snow Leopard is only the beginning, things should get faster and better the longer you use it and especially so as developers tap into its new under-the-hood technologies such as Grand Central Dispatch and Open CL, among others.

In the end, as John Gruber pointed out, Windows 7 will basically be competing with the 80% of all of the current Window users, the XP ones, who have already proven that they are very reluctant to give up on XP regardless of any of the advantages that Microsoft touts that Windows 7 has over it.

For me, Windows 7 is nothing more than a new add on toy for my OS X based Macs, and something to occasionally play around with, in order to maybe to play the odd Windows only game.

In the end Windows 7 might be a better Vista, but it ain't no OS X either - not by a long shot!

And that's my 2 cents 4 this Friday, October 16, 2009

Site-4-The-Day: MacBreak Weekly with Leo Laporte

Leo Laporte is a great guy, a dedicated Mac guy, and an American technology broadcasting icon, who also happens to host my Site-4-the-Day - MacBreak Weekly.

MacBreak Weekly, as its name implies, is a lively audio broadcast on all things Macintosh, and its subjects are varied and always interesting. Leo, along with his regular guests Alex Lindsay, and Andy Ihnatko, regularly cover topics ranging from the iPhone, iPod, Apple and, naturally, topics directly related to Macs, its hardware, its software and everything else in between that has anything to do with this great platform.

What I really love about MacBreak Weekly is how Leo, Alex and Andy play around, joke and tease one another. It's also fun to listen to them mimicking various characters, from pirates, little old men, ladies and what have you - as it makes for some great humor.

Besides the shows regular guests, MacBreak Weekly also features many other interesting guests, from time to time, who also bring their own unique spin and views on just about anything to do with the Mac, and they are always a welcome treat.

MacBreak Weekly is a part of the Twit.Tv network, and each MacBreak Weekly broadcast can run up to an hour or longer, and unlike a regular radio broadcast, you can pause it anytime you wish, which is something that I wish I only could do with regular radio broadcasts.

In conclusion, if your into Macs, your probably going to love listening to MacBreak Weekly each and every week. What can be better than listening to a broadcast all about the Mac - on your Mac!


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Thursday, October 15, 2009