Apple held an iPad event today and unveiled what will truly be the future of tablet cases. As Mr. Jobs pointed out, the case they had originally designed for the iPad did a great job at protecting it while being functional, but tended to hide the iPad’s great design aesthetics. So their new Smart Cover is as minimal as it can get while still protecting the iPad’s screen. The secret, like with everything awesome in the world, is magnets, which hold the cover and its hinge in place, ensuring it’s always aligned properly. And when you roll back the cover it automatically wakes the iPad, no button presses needed. Pretty amazing if you ask me!
Oh… also… apparently there was an iPad 2 announced today as well that’s now powered by a considerably faster dual-core A5 processor, has a set of front and back HD-video capable cameras for Facetiming, has managed to shed a bit of thickness and weight and is slated to hit stores (in the US at least) on March 11th in black and mythical white for the same price as the original iPad. Not necessarily a must-have upgrade, UNLESS you want to use that Smart Cover since I doubt it’s compatible with the iPad 1.
The sizable and extremely usable trackpad on Apple’s MacBooks means most users won’t ever have to even consider using a mouse with them. And with the introduction of their external ‘Magic’ Trackpad last year, iMac users can enjoy a similar experience. But if you want using your iMac to feel as close to using your MacBook as possible, and are willing to cough up $135+ in addition to the cost of Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, head on over to thodio who will happily take your money in exchange for their MacDec dock.
Machined from 15mm thick nut or teak wood, or transparent acrylic, the MacDec has the same general shape of a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and uses 8 powerful neodymium magnets to securely hold the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad in place. It’s also got a set of 4 clear rubber feet on the underside to keep the whole thing from sliding around on your desk or on your lap, and ranges in price from ~$135(€99) for the wood versions, to ~$163(€119) for the acrylic. And hopefully you’re not just paying for a first year 3D animation student’s render.
There are deals where you save a bundle, and then there are deals where you just, well… you just save. It’s one of those situations where you have to say to yourself: “I could either buy this full price at the Apple store, or I could save $10 for the same product by buying it like this.” Of course, it’s not that simple as shipping is only free on orders over $99, so the savings really only kick in if you’re in the market for an Apple TV and whatever else might be available at MacConnection (the retailer offering the rebate in this case) since this rebate puts the device at $89. Still, you never know, this actually might be your situation.
A little on the Apple TV:
It’s 80% smaller than the previous generation, for one. Also, Apple TV has built-in HDMI, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Ethernet, built-in IR receiver, Optical Audio and Micro-USB. As it doesn’t have offer any built-in storage, it relies entirely upon streaming rentals from iTunes. HD movies start at $3.99 and commercial-free TV shows are just 99¢ per episode. Apple TV also streams content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, as well as music, photos and videos from PCs and Macs to your HD TV.
I can understand why Apple left the numerical keypad off their Bluetooth wireless keyboard. Most of the time I use mine on the road, and that extra few inches would make stashing it in my bag kind of difficult. But admittedly I do use it at home from time to time, and that’s when I wouldn’t mind having those missing keys. LMP apparently feels the same way, and that’s exactly what their new extension Keypad, which just passed through the FCC, provides.
It’s also powered by 2xAA batteries and connects to your PC via Bluetooth, and even comes with a special sleeve adapter that lets you marry it to your Apple wireless keyboard. It can also be used as a standalone device if you just want a slick, brushed aluminum numerical keypad. As for pricing and availability? Those details are hopefully coming soon.
Geek politics affect our lives almost everyday, only most of us are unaware of this. No Flash on iPhone? Geek ego. No stable jailbreak from the Chronic Dev Team? Geek ego once again. Here’s what happened.
P0sixninja, a member of the dev team announced recently that the Greenpois0n jailbreak would be released on 10/10/10 at 10:10 am. When the extremely talented Geoh0t (aka George Hotz) heard there was now an ETA, he decided to work on his own jailbreak, Limera1n, using an entirely different exploit than the one the dev team had planned on using. In less than a day he was somewhat done; sadly he had in his hands but an untested beta version of a jailbreak. Working, sure, and on a greater number of devices than Greenpois0n would have, but possibly unstable and requiring four bug-fixing re-releases as of this writing. And yet, he released before Greenpois0n, upstaging the dev team. The issue? Read the rest of this entry »
I’m all for taking care of one’s toys, but even I have to wonder if these MouseGuards from Moshi are a bit overkill. They’re a form-fitting thin film that not only protects the surface of the mouse from everyday wear and tear, but they also apparently have a bit more texture than the Magic Mouse’s glossy surface, providing more of a tactile feel. With a price tag of $69 Apple’s mouse is definitely something you don’t want to have to replace often, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide if you’re willing to spend an extra $15 for a MouseGuard to keep it looking as good as new.
If you live in a dorm, or just happen to do all of your computing and gaming in the same room, you might not have room for your monitors and a TV. As long as you’ve got a monitor with an HDMI input, you don’t have to worry about the extra display. But what if you’ve got a nice new 27-inch iMac sitting on your desk? Wouldn’t it be great if you could use that to play your PS3 or 360 games on? So far your only option has been to try using a TV tuner card, which generally causes lag. Belkin, however, has a new solution.
The new AV360 Mini DisplayPort Converter takes any HDMI signal, and converts it for use with at miniDisplayPort connector. This would then be inserted into your iMac (27-inch only) so that you can use it as a monitor. You will also need a free USB port on your iMac, as the device needs it for power.
It’s been said for many years that Macs aren’t a viable gaming platform. As a gamer that owns both PC’s and Macs, I can generally agree with that statement. This week, however, Valve shook up the Apple gaming community by finally releasing Steam for Mac. At the time of launch, there were 64 titles available.
Valve took things a step further by deciding to make Portal, their popular puzzler, free until May 24th. This goes for both Mac and PC gamers. If you’ve never tried Portal, I’d certainly give it a shot. There’s really no other game out there that has quite the same spirit of this game. Between the mind-challenging puzzles and the dry humor of the robotic antagonist, there’s a lot to enjoy. What are you waiting for? Download it already!
Since it was officially announced, I have openly ridiculed the iPad for its shortcomings. I’ve mocked the name (who hasn’t?), the fact that it’s just a big iPod Touch, and numerous other things. Most of all I stood resolved that I would not waste my money on one. So naturally I’m doing a review on the iPad, which I purchased for myself a little over a week ago.
How did I find myself in this situation? It started when I was reading a book a couple of weeks back. The particular one was part of a trilogy, the entirety of which was compiled into one giant 1,191 page tome. It’s not the first time I’ve read the books, and once again I despised its great size. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy an epic tale, it’s the physical book I could do without. It’s tiring to hold for any real length of time (I’ll read for hours on end some days) and terrible to lug around. Thus, for perhaps the hundredth time I pondered purchasing an eReader.
I looked around the web at my options, though I kept ending up at the same conclusion. Having read over the specs dozens of times, and actually held most of the prominent ones on the market, I settled on the Nook. Of course as quickly as I convinced myself that this was the one I wanted, I began to once again doubt such a purchase. Do I really want to spend $260 on a device that does little more than allow me to read books? Sure, I love to read, but that’s a lot of money for one task.
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