Macgasm

With the new MacBook Pros released last week, I decided that it was time to upgrade my four year old MacBook. Now granted it still runs like a charm, but I felt I needed something that was a little faster and more up-to-date. Plus, the new MacBook Pros have the Thunderbolt technology that looks really great. My next step in my quest to upgrade my laptop was deciding which MacBook Pro I wanted, and how much I wanted to spend on it. I decided to go with the MacBook Pro 15-inchQuad Core i7. The final step now was deciding where I should by it from, and where I can get the best deal.

(more…)

It looks like Apple’s going to get some more competition from Amazon, this time in the video arena. Amazon has been selling and renting videos for quite sometime now on their site, but they’ve decided to change things up a bit. Amazon is now offering their Prime members a nice little bonus: streaming movies from their library for free. That’s right, free. Well, you still have to pay $79 a year for the Prime membership, but with that you now get free video streaming with your same free faster shipping options.

Now don’t get too excited about this new feature. Amazon’s library for Prime members is still pretty small compared to that of Netflix or even Apple’s offerings. The initial library will “start with a 5000 movie and TV Show catalog…”  The other caveat is that unless you own a streaming device that will play Amazon’s content, such as the Roku, you are out of luck on watching videos on your big screen TV. You will be relegated to your computer screen for watching a movie. Now, for some this might not be an issue, but I prefer to watch movies on my 50-inch Plasma TV. I also would not hold my breath for seeing this as a add-on feature to the Apple TV, as we have seen with Netflix.

This is pretty interesting that Amazon has now decided to offer their streaming video content for free. Could it be that Amazon is seeing a shift away from physical media, and they want to jump on the bandwagon that Apple and Netflix are riding? Will this cause Apple to start offering some of their content free for streaming only? Or, will Hollywood finally let content deliverers have first crack at the newest movies, instead of having them wait a year or more?  At this point it’s anyones guess. This is definitely a shift in the right direction for streaming content.

Article Via 9 to 5 Mac

Photo Credit: DigtialTrends.com

Apple continues to meld their iOS Store and the new Mac App Store. Not on the desktop end this time, but on the iPad. They have introduced some welcome new features that will make your shopping experience for apps even better. If you haven’t visited the App Store from your iPad, you might be wondering, “What in the world is he talking about?” Well I’ll tell you, and it’s pretty cool.

The one new feature that I love in the Mac App Store is now featured in the App Store on the iPad. It’s the button labeled “Installed.”  This button replaces the button next to the app that would show the price or the word Free. This way, you know that you have the app, and you don’t need to search you iTunes library before downloading the app. Another helpful feature Apple has implemented is the button labeled “Install.” This will let you know that you have already purchased this app; however, you do not have it installed on your iPad. At this point, if you want the app you can re-download it without having to connect your iPad to you computer.

Moreover, Apple has introduced new filters which include Category, Release Date, Customer Rating, Price, and Device, as well as a Reset Filters option. These filters are an excellent way for you to sort through the app results from your search. For example, I did a search for Twitter, and it displayed my search results like it normally does. But, this is where everything changes. As I mentioned before, you now have the “Installed” and “Install” buttons available to you. The first search result was Twitter, and it showed that it is installed on my iPad. The other search result shown for iPhone apps was TwitBird Pro for Twitter, which shows the “Install” button. Now I have the option to install TwitBird Pro for Twitter on my iPad without having to re-purchase it, or dock the iPad with my Mac and sync it with iTunes.

Another new feature I would like to touch on is the “Release Date.”  I think this is a great idea to have the release date show next to the app. This way you know if the app has just been released, or if it’s been around for a while.

Why is this important you might be thinking? Well, some people might like to wait for an app to receive a few updates before purchasing it. It goes back to the whole idea of “I’ll what for a few revisions of a device before I buy it.” However, for those that can’t wait, or this way of thinking is foreign for them, it’s nice to see when the app was released to the App Store.

It’s great to see Apple continuing to make updates and changes to both their iOS devices as well as the Mac platform. So, go on and play with all of these new features in the App Store on your iPad and have fun with them.  When you’re done, we would love to hear what you think about these new features.  Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Article Via TiPb

It’s commonplace to see commercials where one company will tout that their product is better than a competing product. Verizon had done this for quite some time with their Android phones and the iPhone. Verizon has even done this when comparing their cellular service to that of AT&T’s. Some commercials were more in your face obvious, while others were a bit more subdued. It appears that Sprint is easing up on Apple. Think they might be courting Apple, or even in the works for a Sprint iPhone?

According to an Electronista piece, Sprint in their latest commercial is not targeting the iPhone. The commercial centers around the HTC EVO, where you see the little Android mascot zooming around reading all of the rave reviews about itself. Then the commercial introduces the all new HTC EVO Shift 4G. Not once is the iPhone, nor AT&T mentioned. Is this Sprint playing to Android’s strengths, or maybe they are playing nice with Apple?

Here is the Sprint commercial for your viewing enjoyment:

Does this mean that come June we will be seeing a Sprint or even maybe a T-Mobile iPhone? At this point it is anyone’s guess. But, I believe that Apple will be releasing the iPhone for the other two U.S. carriers. I think Apple let Verizon get a leg up on the competition by releasing the iPhone before the other carriers. It would be great to see the iPhone on all four U.S. carriers. This way we will start to have some true competition between carriers. When there’s competition between carriers, the consumers reap the benefits.

Article Via Electronista

Since Apple released the Apple TV four years ago, both Apple loyalists and analysts alike have been predicting that Apple will release an all-in-one Apple Television.  This is one market that Apple has not yet fully entered.  This is soon going to change if one analyst is correct in his latest of many Apple TV predictions.

Piper Jaffray’s Senior Analyst Gene Munster “…believes Apple will enter the TV set market by the end of next year.”  Personally, I take this prediction with a grain of salt.  For starters, Munster has been predicting this in his research notes for quite some time now.  Either he knows something the rest of us don’t, or this is very wishful thinking on his part.  I personally like the fact that I can take my Apple TV and place it on any television I want in my house.  If I had an Apple Television, I would be bound to consuming content from that TV only.

Moreover, this is a device that is best suited to not being integrated into a Television.  I would say that is probably one reason why Apple sold one million Apple TVs since its release back in September.  They can sell more units because they are small and inexpensive.  This, in the long run, will be more appealing to customers.  I can outfit my three TVs with Apple TVs for $300.00, whereas if Apple only sold Televisions, I would be paying a lot more than $300.00.

Will Apple ever make a Television?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Do I think they will come out with one by the end of 2012, as Munster is predicting?  Probably not.  I feel that Apple will have to really turn its hobby around, and really start to invest more into it.  They have started by adding Netflix and other photo sharing services for the Apple TV, but not enough for a Television.  What are your thoughts? Are you pro or con?  Do you like the Apple TV in its current state, or do you want Apple to do more with it?  Let us know by sounding out in the comments below.

Photo Credit: Apple TV

Article Via cnet

What’s a key feature missing from iPhoto that is used in a multi-Mac house?  The ability to sync your iPhoto library with other Macs in your house.  Sure, you can share out your library, but you can’t sync it.  Or, you can take the time to copy your uploaded photos from your Mac to everyone else’s iPhoto Library.  With the release of iPhoto ’11, I was hoping that Apple would have instituted a Home Sharing feature like in iTunes.  Alas, Apple did not, and I was still left moving photos from one iPhoto library to another.

Enter Haystack Software

Haystack Software makes an application called iPhotoSync.  It does pretty much what the title implies: it syncs up your iPhoto libraries.  The developer basically had the same dilemma that I have, as well as many others.  So, he wrote iPhotoSync.  With iPhotoSync you have many ways to sync your libraries.  You can sync your entire library from one Mac to another, and this way all of your libraries are identical.  Another method is to only sync new content.  The final method is to chose the previous month, or two, three, six, and twelve months.  For my setup, I chose to sync my wife’s entire library to mine since I run a daily backup of my photos.  As for my wife’s, I chose to only backup new photos and videos from my library.

What’s Macgasmic

The way iPhotoSync works is by cataloging your existing iPhoto library, and it uses Growl which runs in the background alerting you when your library has been cataloged.  When you’re ready to sync new photos, a Growl message appears informing you that you can proceed with your import.  What is also great about iPhotoSync is that your don’t need to have the window open for all this to work.  iPhotoSync simply runs in the background along with Growl.

I would also like to take a moment and talk about Haystack Software’s tech support.  The only means of tech support is via email.  For some, this might not be their cup of tea.  Some people prefer phone support for that instant response to their issue.  Well, Haystack Software’s email support is pretty fast.  I emailed them with an issue I was having at 10:30 in the evening, and at 7:30 the next morning I had a response.  Now you might be thinking that is not as fast as calling someone, but most email tech support services take between twenty-four and forty-eight hours before you get a response back.  In any event, after a few emails back and forth, Haystack Software released an update for iPhotoSync that fixed the exact issue I was having.  I emailed them back after the update, and they said due to my email they found a bug that they were unaware of and fixed it.

Room For Improvement

After all the great things you have read, you might be wondering why iPhotoSync would need improving.  Well, I wouldn’t be giving the software a fair review if I didn’t show both sides.  To be fair in this case, I would say the software needs tweaking more than improving.  One thing I found to be an issue with iPhotoSync is that when I am syncing my new photos and videos to my wife’s iPhoto library, I would like to see some sort of order in the library list.  As it stands, there seems to be no semblance of order, be it alphabetical or by date.  I have to scroll through the entire list to find the one or two albums I want to transfer.  The other thing I would like to see improved upon is the way the albums are imported.  When I import the album, the album title doesn’t carry over.  It simply titles it with the date.  Also, if you import more than one album at a time, it imports it as one album, instead of the two or three albums that it is in the other library.  I am not sure if these are limitations of the software, or simply something that the developer never thought of implementing.

Compatibility and Pricing

iPhotoSync is compatible with iPhoto ’08, ’09, and ’11, and will work with PowerPC and Intel Macs.  I have used iPhotoSync in both iPhoto ’09 and ’11.  In both versions the application worked well.  After I upgraded from iPhoto ’09 to ’11, I didn’t have to do any configuring of iPhotoSync.  It simply continued to work and catalog my library.  iPhotoSync comes in two different licensing schemes — the first is a two license pack, and the second is a five license pack.  The pricing is as follows – iPhotoSync 2-pack is $15.00, and iPhotoSync 5-pack is $25.00.  Both licensing packs are very well priced.  Haystack Software also offers a seven day free trial.  You can download iPhotoSync by clicking here.

Overall iPhotoSync is an exceptional compliment to iPhoto.  I would highly recommend that you download the trial if you have more than one Mac, and you want to sync your iPhoto libraries.  After you try it, you will definitely want to continue to use iPhotoSync.

Photo Credit: iPhotoSync

What is one thing that could be keeping people from migrating to eBooks from traditional paper books?  Some might say it’s barrier of entry due to cost, but I would have to say that it is the ability to lend books out to friends or family members.  When you buy an eBook, only the purchaser can read the eBook on their device.  It can’t be leant out.  The only way around this is if everyone in your household has the same account; then, they will be able to read the same book you’re reading.  Barnes and Noble was the first to introduce a fourteen day lending policy on their eBooks.  This is a great way for your friends and family to borrow your eBook, and see if they like it or not.  Possibly even finish reading it, if they are quick readers.  Well, Amazon has decided to be number two in this area, and has jumped on the eBook lending bandwagon.

According to Engadget.com, later this year Amazon “…will let folks lend books they’ve purchased to other Kindle users for a 14-day period, during which the person that actually purchased the book won’t be able to read it themselves.”  I would have preferred that the purchaser still be able to read their eBooks, but alas, it looks as though DRM is still in full effect.  I guess book publishers could not really control what a person did after they purchased a traditional paper book; however, in this digital age we live in, they seem to have that type of control.

Moreover, this is a positive for eBook publishers and makers of eBook devices.  This will further assist in the transition from a paper to a digital medium.  However, there are going to be those who would prefer a traditional book over an eBook.  So there’s no way that you can persuade them to switch.  But, for those that are on the fence or willing to switch, this will make the transition that much easier.  Would this make you switch from traditional books to eBooks?  Let us know by speaking your mind in our comments section below.

Photo Credit: Kindling

Article Via Engadget.com

How do you get two of Silicon Valley’s icons together for dinner?  Well, first you get one to invite the other over for dinner, and second, have a service you want on the other guy’s network.  Where am I going with this, you might ask?  Well, Steve Jobs invited Mark Zuckerberg over to dinner at his house.  The next question that you might be pondering is why?  If you recall, Apple and Facebook not coming to a deal over Ping’s integration with Facebook, and that is the most likely reason why the two were having dinner.

If you have been living under a rock for the past couple of months, or just don’t keep up with the tech scene, you might not have heard about Apple’s Ping and Facebook integration talks.  Apple and Facebook had been in talks for about eighteen months to integrate Apple’s Ping service with Facebook’s network.  However, the two could not come to an agreement on the privacy terms.  Steve Job’s was quoted as saying that Facebook’s terms were too “onerous.”  Then, when Apple tried to have their customers link their Ping accounts to their Facebook accounts; Facebook blocked them from doing that right off the bat.

It would have been great if they could have come to terms on the agreement. This way, Apple would not have to build their own music social network from the ground up, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.  Facebook has a large user base that Apple could integrate with, which would make it easy for Apple and their customers.  This way, Apple’s customers don’t have to maintain two social networks with two separate address books of friends.  I believe that is why Ping hasn’t taken off the way Apple had intended it to.

I started to use Ping when it was introduced in September for all of about two seconds.  I setup my account with Ping and added friends, but it would have been much better if I could have just integrated my Facebook friends with Ping.  I guess Steve Jobs is looking to be the bigger man here, and further Apple’s relationship with Facebook.  What better way to do this then having two of Silicon Valley’s giants breaking bread together; that could more than likely be financially beneficial for both parties involved.

Photo Credit: Facebook and iTunes work together

Article Via Gizmodo.com