For those of you who are interested, I will be hiking through the Grand Canyon this June with my girlfriend, my buddy and his wife. The four of us will be hiking from the North Rim –> South Rim –> North Rim. Some people refer to this as the rim-to-rim-to-rim hike.
This will be my second time hiking through the Grand Canyon and I can’t wait. I’m planning on writing another post about what you need to do in order to hike through the Grand Canyon – e.g, logistics of getting a backcountry permit, time of year to go, gear, etc. So, if you’re interested in this info, leave a comment along with any questions you may have!
Apple has officially released the 2.0 software update for all iPhone 1.0 and iPod Touch owners about 10 minutes ago – only about 30 minutes after the 3G iPhone went on sale. ;)
Connect your iPhone to iTunes and it should automatically ask you to upgrade. If not, click on your iPhone in the left pane and click the ‘check for updates’ button on the general tab.
Thinking about buying or upgrading to the iPhone 3G? Well, here are some articles that let’s you know what to do or expect.
One thing you should know: if you have the base iPhone 1G plan ($59.99/mo) and want the equivalent plan for the iPhone 3G, the cost is $74.99/mo – $10 extra for the 3G data plan and $5 extra for the 200 text messages (which was included in the 1G plan).
Personally, my girlfriend may buy my 1st gen iPhone. If she does, I’ll upgrade to the 3G model. Of course, if this occurs, I’ll post how the process went for us so you all know what to expect.
I just came across Dropbox, which is an online service that automatically syncs your files across multiple computers (Windows & Mac). This is EXACTLY what I and several other people that I know need! The thing that really peaks my interest is that there will be a sync client for Mac OS X and Windows that will auto-synchronize all files in the targeted folders. In addition, you can access the files via their website. To top it off, Dropbox also keeps version history so you can rollback to a previous version.
Anyways, Dropbox hasn’t launched, yet, but they do have a nice screen cast on their site so you can see it in action.
I’m pretty excited to see how well their service works because I’ve tried to synchronize files across two Macs with .Mac and it’s flaky, at best. I also wonder how much the service will cost – if anything.
Update: GigaOM has a great write-up on Dropbox…and it looks like the beta started today.
Wow…some very cool details that Apple has released about the iPhone SDK (beta) today. I won’t go into the details since you can read them yourself (link below). The most important thing: an iPhone software update enabling 3rd party apps will be released in June, 2008. So, it looks like we have a few more months to go before we can start buying and installing 3rd party apps w/o jailbreaking our iPhones.
There were some very cool demos shown at the press event, too.
If you’re debating between getting the new MBP (i.e., the ones with multitouch and Penryn processor) or the old MBP, you’ll find AnandTech’s benchmark tests very informative.
The net: Penryn’s biggest advantage is in battery life. Performance is a tad better (depending on the test) but not a lot. So, for some of you, the reduced prices of the old MBP may be the right option for you.
With new MacBook Pros (& MacBooks) released yesterday you can save some serious cash on the previous generation models. As I’m writing this I see the following in the refurbished section of the online Apple store:
MacBook Pro 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo (matte or glossy display): $1,449
MacBook Pro 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo (matte or glossy display): $1,649
These laptops were originally selling for $1,999 and $2,499 so these are some steep savings…especially on the 2.4Ghz model.
If you’re looking at buying a MacBook you should seriously consider the 2.2Ghz MacBook Pro at this price. I say this because the Intel Penryn processor in the MacBook (& low-end MBP) only has 3MB of L2 cache whereas the previous Core 2 Duo chip (aka Merom) has 4MB. To be honest, I’m not sure if the additional 1MB of L2 cache cache will net any noticeable performance gains but the option to get a MBP for less than the black MacBook ($1,500) it’s definitely worth considering.
There are some additional benefits to Penryn: supposed better battery life (reportedly by 8 – 10%) and the SSE4 instruction set (this will make application run much faster provided they are designed to utilize it).
Personally, if I were in the market for a high-end MacBook, I would seriously consider getting the 2.2Ghz MBP. In fact, if a friend was going to spend $1,300 or $1,500 on a MacBook, I would most likely recommend getting the refurbished MBP.
Apple has released a new firmware for the iPhone (1.1.4) . Apparently, all the release notes say are, “bug fixes.”
I don’t know about you all but ever since I upgraded to 1.1.3 (released during MacWorld ‘08), I’ve had Safari crash several times. Prior to 1.1.3, Safari crashed only a handful of times in 6 months. Maybe this new firmware will make Safari more stable.
I’ve been waiting for over 1 year to replace my Powerbook so I am absolutely ecstatic. I placed my order for the $2,500 version of the 15″ MBP and should have it next week. Cost: ~$1,999 (+ tax) thanks to the Apple Dev Connection discount, which is 20% off on MBPs).
Side note: I love how Apple still showcases a Ducati 1098 motorcycle on the MBP product page!
Toshiba officially put the last nail in the HD-DVD coffin – today, Toshiba announced they will cease HD-DVD player production and replication. They will phase out HD-DVD by the end of March 2008. Warner Bros. decision to go Blu-ray exclusive this past January was one nail in the coffin. The second nail was delivered by the retailers (Best Buy, Netflix, and Walmart). After these two it was only a matter of time before Toshiba raised the white flag.
As most of you know, I was an early supporter of HD-DVD but when WB went BD exclusive, I was ready for this format war to end so we can all unite under one HD format. Do I regret my decision in buying an HD-DVD player? Heck no. I bought the Toshiba HD-A1 for it’s excellent ability to upscale SD DVDs to 1080i and looked at HD-DVD as a ‘bonus.’ The HD-A1 was also appr. $300 cheaper than the Denon DVD-2910 that I was contemplating on buying.
Anyways, we’ve already gotten an announcement from Universal Studios (one of the two HD-DVD exclusive studios) stating that future titles and catalog titles will be released on Blu-ray disc. Although Paramount hasn’t officially announced anything it’s obvious they will support Blu-ray (again).
Now, let’s hope the BD association starts lowering the prices of players and movies. The next battle for BD will be against HD movie downloads/rentals.
FWIW, I was at one of my local Apple Stores today and asked them if they had any of the $2,500 version of the 15″ MacBook Pros in-stock. The answer: no. Hmm….could the updates be coming this Tuesday or next Tuesday (Feb. 26)?? Man, I hope so!
Post a comment if your local Apple Store is also out of stock.
Amazon is having a buy 2 get 1 free deal on select Blu-ray titles. There are approximately 180 titles that qualify – just make sure you view each genre (action & adventure, drama & family friendly, etc.) by clicking on the tabs on top of the page.
I bought Black Hawk Down, House of Flying Daggers, & Underworld: Evolution for $38 ($12.66/title) – a pretty darn good deal.
The price varies so if you’re buying a lot of discs make sure you divide your purchase into separate orders. For example, all $15.95 discs in one order and all $23.95 discs in another because Amazon gives the cheapest disc to you for free.
Not sure how long this deal will last so buy ‘em if you can!
This week Apple finally released version 2.0 of the Apple TV software that was demo’d by Steve Jobs at this year’s MacWorld. This is a big deal because it finally makes the Apple TV a lot more functional – adding the ability to buy and/or rent movies (SD or HD) and TV shows. However, the one question I had was, ‘just how good is the HD video quality compared to Blu-ray/HD-DVD?’ Answer: it’s surprisingly good…ranking #2 – right behind Blu-ray/HD-DVD.
It’s def worth reading the reviews as they have screen shots comparing AppleTV, Blu-ray/HD-DVD, HD Cable, and standard DVD:
As some of you know, Intel has just released their next mobile processor – Penryn. In a nutshell, the Penryn processor is similar to the current Core 2 Duo (aka Merom) processor – the biggest change was the size reduction from 65nm –> 45nm and the increase in L2 cache from 4MB –> 6MB. This yields better battery life, less heat emitted from the CPU, and a slight improvement in performance.
Increase of 23 – 55 minutes in battery life (depending on the load on the CPU)
Battery life increased 18 minutes during DVD playback
Overall performance increase was around 4.5%
Personally, with all of the rumors of an updated MacBook Pro coming soon, it’s worth the wait. Although, I almost cracked since I’ve been waiting to buy a MBP since Jan/Feb 2007.
For you PC-buyers, fret not, Dell/HP/Sony have already announced release dates for Penryn-based laptops (shipping in February 2008).
Wow, this week was an incredible week…my girlfriend (a PC user all her life) just decided to replace her Dell Latitude D620 (Core 2 Duo – 2.16Ghz) machine with the black MacBook (Core 2 Duo – 2.2Ghz). I think her experience speaks volumes about Mac OS X as well as the dedicated Mac applications…because it was a combination of the two that convinced her to switch.
Here’s the net of it, she needed to build a simple yoga website – Om Circle Yoga – (she’s a certified yoga instructor). I told her that I got this great web design software (RapidWeaver) from a MacUpdate promotional bundle back in December and that it would suite her needs perfectly. So, she gave it a shot and within a couple of hours, she learned how to use RapidWeaver, built her website, and launched it. Here’s the best part: after she launched her site, she commented on:
How easy it was to learn and use RapidWeaver
How easy and fun it was using Mac OS X (I’m running Tiger)
The interesting thing is that my girlfriend has used my Powerbook in the past for browsing the web and her impression was that it’s just another computer and does the same thing as a PC. The minute she did something on the Mac that was more than surfing the web or checking email she realized how much more productive she was on the Mac and began to appreciate what us Mac-heads/geeks have been raving about all these years.
So, big props goes to the folks at Realmac Software for making RapidWeaver such a great app and to the RapidWeaver community for building various add-ons…and, of course, to Apple, for making Mac OS X such a great operating system.
As of the time of this post, there is 23 hours left to buy the Macheist software bundle. You get 12 apps for $49. Two notable apps in the bundle are Snapz Pro X and Pixelmator. Hit it up at http://www.macheist.com.
(sorry for the short post but it was done on my iPhone via the mobile WordPress site)
According to MacRumors, there is some talk of updates coming soon to the MBP…man, I REALLY hope this is true and that these updates happen within the next 2-4 weeks. I know, I know…I’m wishfully hoping it’ll be soon but one can hope, right?
In looking back at the sources of the most accurate rumors, we also find enticing reports of items that didn’t come true at Macworld, but did come from credible sources.
The MacBook Pro updates are certainly coming — and soon. Even without our rumor sources, the MacBook Pros are simply due for refresh. But the most interesting tidbit is that there have been reliable reports that the Pro machines will incorporate Apple’s new multi-touch trackpad.
Also, here are a couple of the posts I’ve seen on MacRumors’ forums:
Someone is seeing discounts being offered on the MBP at their university store and that they only do this when an update/upgrade is ~2 weeks away
Some people are seeing discounts on MBPs at various retail stores
One person claiming that he works for a printing company that prints all of Apple’s brochures, boxes, and banners – he claims that the updates are coming very soon
As always with Apple, these are just rumors and people’s wild guesses but time will tell…but it’s killing me since I’ve been waiting to buy a MBP since August 2007!
EDIT: AppleInsider just reported some more details on the soon-to-be-released updated MBP. The gist of it: the MBP was supposed to be updated and announced at MacWorld but execs decided to delay it by several weeks because they needed the resources to focus on the MacBook Air.
EDIT (January 27, 2008):More rumors of the imminent MBP update.
I just came across 
With new MacBook Pros (& MacBooks) released yesterday you can save some serious cash on the previous generation models. As I’m writing this I see the following in the 
Toshiba officially put the last nail in the HD-DVD coffin – today, 
This week Apple finally released version 2.0 of the Apple TV software that was demo’d by Steve Jobs at this year’s MacWorld. This is a big deal because it finally makes the Apple TV a lot more functional – adding the ability to buy and/or rent movies (SD or HD) and TV shows. However, the one question I had was, ‘just how good is the HD video quality compared to Blu-ray/HD-DVD?’ Answer: it’s surprisingly good…ranking #2 – right behind Blu-ray/HD-DVD.
As some of you know, Intel has just released their next mobile processor – Penryn. In a nutshell, the Penryn processor is similar to the current Core 2 Duo (aka Merom) processor – the biggest change was the size reduction from 65nm –> 45nm and the increase in L2 cache from 4MB –> 6MB. This yields better battery life, less heat emitted from the CPU, and a slight improvement in performance.
Wow, this week was an incredible week…my girlfriend (a PC user all her life) just decided to replace her Dell Latitude D620 (Core 2 Duo – 2.16Ghz) machine with the black MacBook (Core 2 Duo – 2.2Ghz). I think her experience speaks volumes about Mac OS X as well as the dedicated Mac applications…because it was a combination of the two that convinced her to switch.
