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Opening
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Opening Music
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Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
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Mandaandthemarbles.com
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Sponsor
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VMWare
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VMware Fusion 4 makes it a breeze to run Windows and Mac Applications side by side.
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You can also use it to run onther guest operating systems including Linux and OS X Lion
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With more than 90 new and improved features
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Optimized for multi-core Macs and OS X Lion.
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Use all the built-in Lion features with your Windows apps.
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Add Windows programs to Launchpad
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Access them in Mission Control
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View them in native full screen mode
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Switch between them using gestures
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VMware Fusion 4 is designed to give you the best Windows experience possible on OS X Lion.
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Until the end of the year VMware Fusion 4 is being offered at $49.99, 30 bucks off the original price of $79.99
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To download a free trial or purchase VMware Fusion 4, go to vmware.com/mac.
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Also if you use the p romo code 'maccast' you'll get an additional 10% off, so it's a really great deal.
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News
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iPads after launch
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It's selling like, well like iPads
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Apple reported selling 3 million iPads in the opening weekend of sales
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Analysts are estimating Q2 iPad sales of between 11 to 13 million units. 12 million units sold would represent a year-over-year growth of 156%.
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For perspective Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said at the end of February that there were now 12 million tablets (total) running Android.
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Friday the iPad launched in an additional 25 countries
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Despite the high sales volume and large international roll-out supplies seem to be good
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Most retail locations seem to have iPads and Apple's online ship times for the US are reporting 1-2 week delivery times.
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Reviews
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App sizes: Worse, each app is usually written in single, universal version for all iPad models. So those apps will eat up the same extra space, pointlessly, on older iPads, too — and even on iPhones, since many apps are written to run on both the tablet and the phone. In other words, iPhone owners, too, will wind up losing storage space because of this graphic-bloat ripple-down effect.) - David Pogue, NYT
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The Retina display is by far the biggest new feature—and it is certainly impressive. However, it is not a life changing experience that some have described - Seth Weintraub, 9 to 5 Mac
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DigiTimes reports that LG and Sharp have begun shipping a small volume of displays for the new iPad
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At launch it is believed that Samsung was the sole supplier when the two other manufactures failed to meet quality standards
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More displays will allow Apple to continue to keep up with demand
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Takes 2 hours longer to charge fully
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the battery on the new iPad has 70 percent higher capacity. It needs it.
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The new 2048-by-1536 display's backlight takes 7 watts of power compared to the iPad 2's 2.7-2.8 watts
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The new iPad seemed to take about 7 hours to get to full charge vs the iPad 2s 4 hour charge time
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The bigger battery capacity with the same 10 watt charger is a big reason why.
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Tests done by DisplayMate, show the new iPad battery indicator shows its fully charged about 2 hours before it actually is.
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All tablets and smartphones actually seem to exhibit this behavior in one form or another.
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DisplayMate claims it a general problem in the algorithms that calculate the full charge percentage.
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I think I had read that modern rechargeable batteries perform best and have the greatest life if you "keep the electrons flowing". Cycling them between 10-20% and 80-90%.
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Some 3rd party cables may not charge the new iPad
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Jason O'Grady noticed this when his iPad stopped charging at 85%, and displayed the "not charging" even when using the 10W power brick.
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He was using a longer, heavier gauge cable.
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The charger itself says 5.1 volts 2.1 amps. That is a fair amount of current. For a short cable thinner wires won’t make a difference, but on longer cables it will. Also, the new iPad does draw more power from the AC adapter than the iPad 2.
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The color accuracy is great
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DisplayMate also ran tests on the new screens color accuracy
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DisplatMate's report said teardown reports indicate that there were are actually 3 suppliers at launch: Samsung, LG, and possibly Sharp.
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"very accurate colors and picture quality. It’s most likely better and more accurate than any display you own (unless it’s a calibrated professional display)"
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They claim it reproduced 99% accurate color reproduction and claimed, "the new iPad beats every laptop, tablet, and mobile projector I have seen."
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Upscaled graphics are looking pretty good, seem Apple uses the Retina iPhone 4 graphics if available to upscale to the new iPad resolution
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Displays effect on battery
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new iPad uses 2.5 times the Backlight power of the iPad 2 for the same screen Brightness.
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Running time at Maximum brightness in our tests was 5.8 hours, 20 percent less than the iPad 2’s 7.2 hours.
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Processor
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A5X is huge. Built upon the same 45 nanometer architecture, the A4 chip was only 53.3 mm square. Now compare that to the A5X, which measures in at a whopping 165 mm.
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Same dual core 1GHz performance on the CPU, but has those quad core GPUs in there to drive quadruple the pixels.
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Seems like most of the GPU performance might be dedicated to driving the retina display, so may not translate into direct GPU performance
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RAM has been bumped up from 512MB to 1GB
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Some older and 3rd party Smart Covers reportedly not activating the sleep/wake feature due to mismatched polarity on the covers magnets. Early batches of Apple's Smart cover may have the issue
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Apple apparently added a polarity-sensitive sensor to the new iPad
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In general it seems like mine pops-off much easier. The more gradual curve may be a factor.
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Still can't use FaceTime over cellular networks, even if you have 4G LTE
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So should you buy a new iPad?
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There have been some reports that many consumers can't see the difference between the iPad 2 and new iPad displays.
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Bearfeats benchmarks show that the CPUs are almost identical and the GPU performance is mostly required for the retina display.
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The doubled RAM may help slightly on the performance, but likely not be life changing.
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Bottom line is, unless you really want the retina display, the new camera, or LTE support, the iPad 2 may be a better deal.
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The next iPhone
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Arriving in the Fall, surprised?
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Will have LTE, surprised?
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iOS 5.1 seems to contain references to 4G on the iPhone, but probably just referring the the newly AT&T rebranded 3G (HSPA+)
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Feature a gargantuan 4.6" screen. Ridiculous.
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iMore, claims the screen size will be roughly, if not exactly, the same.
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feature a new smaller dock connector
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Apple has filed a patent for a haptic touch interface
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Not saying it will be in the next iPhone
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Their design uses piezoelectric actuators, which would let a device provide localized feedback.
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Would possibly be in it's own layer and allow also for "force" sensors to gauge how hard someone presses (sounds like pressure sensitivity to me)
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New Macbooks
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Speculation is that an update could happen this summer along with the release of Mountain Lion.
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Larger, "double sized" graphics have been discovered in current developer builds.
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This rumor has been circulating for a while and many feel notebooks and displays that are HiDPI should start surfacing soon.
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Updated thinner 13" and 15" MacBooks are expected to be among the first models to get the new displays
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Webkit URL addressbar spoofing exploit
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A security researcher has discovered that it's possible to show the URL of one site while loading another in Mobile Safari
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Uses the JavaScript open function to load a new window or tab to open when clicking a specially crafted link. It can load a site hosted on one server in an iFrame while displaying another sites URL in the addressbar.
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Until Apple patches the exploit be careful about clicking links or visiting untrusted sites.
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Where do you buy your phone?
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A survey of US customers by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners taken from December last year through this February, showed that just 15% of iPhone buyers had purchased their devices directly from Apple.
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13% had bought their iPhones from Best Buy
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The majority of consumers however seem to purchase directly from the carrier
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AT&T sold 32% of the iPhones to those who were surveyed
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Verizon accounted for 30%
Sprint was only about 7%.
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The survey also showed that the majority of buyers still prefer to get their iPhones from physical stores.
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76% of buyers purchased from traditional brick-and-mortar locations, while only 24% bought online.
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New Apple TV UI rejected by Jobs
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An interesting fact surfaced on Twitter and was reported by the Next Web
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|
Former Apple TV engineer Michael Margolis, tweeted that the new Apple TV update (version 5.0) actually uses designs that were “tossed out 5 years ago because Steve Jobs didn’t like them.”
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Also remarking that (since Steve Jobs passed), “there is nobody to say ‘no’ to bad design”.
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Later Margolis clarified some of his statements saying that the new UI makes more sense now because, "There is a clear effort at Apple to make everything match the look and feel of their popular iOS products "
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He also pointed out that Jobs didn't like the "grid", but this was before the iPhone or iOS.
|
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|
|
Beyond the new A5 single core custom chip, iFixit found another significant hardware tweak in the new Apple TV
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They say it has the same a Broadcom 4330 chip that's found in the new iPad
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This chip supports dual-band 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity.
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It also has support for Bluetooth 4.0+HS and an extra antenna, but no word if Apple actually ever plans to use it.
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Good to know that the potential is there for bluetooth accessories like keyboards, trackpads, game controllers, etc.
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|
Apple plans new Austin campus
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Looks like since Austin city officials agreed to give Apple $8.6 million in incentives over 10 years the company will move forward with construction of a new campus there
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Apple will also be getting an additional $21 million over 10 years from the Texas Enterprise Fund .
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The facility will begin construction later this year on 38 acres at an estimated cost of $304 million.
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The campus is expected to focus on local customer support, sales and accounting functions and will generate up to 3,600 new jobs in the city.
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Sponsor
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Smile
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PDFpen for iPad
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All the best features of PDF Pen for the Mac, but on the go.
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Edit and make text corrections
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Reorder and rearrange pages
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Add markup, highlighting, annotations, notes
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Add signatures and create an object library
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Open from and Export to tons of places
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iTunes, iDisk, WebDAV, Dropbox, Evernote, FTP, Google Docs
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Also integrates with iCloud. Get PDFpen Cloud Access for iPad, included with PDFpen for the Mac.
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Still $9.99 for a limited time.
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
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|
|
iOS 5.1 breaks podcast chapters
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Well, at least in the Music app on the iPhone and iPod touch, they were never there on the iPad.
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Now they simply display "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2", etc.
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Please tell Apple you want them to fix it.
|
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|
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I've also had issue where enhanced podcasts won't stream or download in the iTunes store app on the device.
|
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On the good news front, they did add speed controls and 30 sec skip back to the Music app on the iPad. Still doesn't support changing Artwork, hyperlinks, chapter listing, etc.
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I'm not the only one to notice or be frustrated by this. Play comment from Adam
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At this point the only way to get good podcast support is to use alternative players
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I like Downcast on the iPad and Instacast on the iPhone
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Downcast
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:30 and :15 skip back. :30 and 2:00 min skip forward
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Download or stream support
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payback speed controls
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Chapter support
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full show notes
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Sleep timer
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Gesture controls
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One area where I prefer Downcast on the iPhone is in the car
|
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|
Double tap on screen to play pause
|
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2 finger swipe left or right to skip chapters
|
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|
|
Airplay support
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|
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No full sized album art
|
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|
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Doesn't seem to support hyperlinks (I can't find it)
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Instacast
|
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|
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Instacast HD feels more like some strange attempt to marry Reeder with an Podcatcher.
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Too focused on a text interface. Album art and controls are small, doesn't show chapter thumbnails, etc.
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Also a separate purchase.
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Full screen album art and simplified playback
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Download or stream
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Chapters (no thumbnails) and hyperlinks
|
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Speed controls
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Airplay support
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iCloud and Dropbox syncing
|
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|
|
Troubleshooting Wi-Fi issues
|
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|
|
Some new iPad owners reported issues with Wi-Fi connections
|
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|
|
While the issue with the new iPads may be a bug that Apple can hopefully fix with software, here are some good tips that make fix any wi-fi issues you may be having with your Mac or any of your devices
|
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|
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Some simple tricks can sometimes resolve wi-fi woes
|
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|
|
Update your firmware
|
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|
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Reset your router. If you have an Airport you can use the Airport Utility
|
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|
|
Turn on and off wi-fi on your Mac or device
|
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|
|
On iOS Settings >Wi-Fi and toggle the Wi-Fi switch Off. I leave it off for about 10 seconds then flip it back on
|
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|
|
On Mac, just go under the Wi-Fi menubar items and choose 'Turn off Wi-Fi'
|
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|
|
System Preferences > Network. Select the Wi-Fi and press the 'Turn Wi-Fi Off' button
|
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|
|
Forget the known Network
|
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|
|
On iOS:
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|
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Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi Find the Wi-Fi network you’re currently connected to, and then tap on the blue arrow next to its name.
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|
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Tap the 'Forget this Network' button, and then 'Forget'
|
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|
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On Mac:
|
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|
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System Preferences > Network.
|
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|
|
Select the Wi-Fi and click the 'Advanced…' button
|
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|
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Select the 'Preferred Network' you are connected to from the list and click the "-" button to remove it
|
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|
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Reset the Network Settings (iOS only)
|
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Settings > General > Reset
|
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|
|
Tap the 'Reset Network Settings' button.
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|
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This will wipe out your network settings and passwords, so you'll have to re-enter them
|
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|
|
Reboot the iPad (hold the sleep/wake and Home button).
|
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|
|
Extract image from PDF in iOS
|
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|
|
Received an email from John who asked about a way to copy a portion of a pdf page (a snapshot) so he can save it as a picture on the iPad?
|
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|
|
He sometimes needs to capture something like a diagram in a repair manual to post in a form or send in an email
|
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He uses GoodReader, but that doesn't really allow for editing of images.
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You can select, copy, and annotate text
|
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|
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One work around would be to take a snapshot (press Home + Sleep/Wake) and then crop it in the Photo app.
|
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|
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For some PDFs you could use PDF Pen for iPad ($9.99 introductory price)
|
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|
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If the PDF was not simple a scan of a printed document the images should be selectable
|
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|
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You can select it and then use the copy+paste feature in iOS to put the image in an email.
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|
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You could email it to yourself and add it to the Photo Library or use an app like PasteBot to save the image directly to the Photo Library.
|
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|
|
Elgato Thunderbolt SSD Review
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|
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Small
|
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|
|
3.3 in × 0.8 in × 5.2 in
|
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A little smaller than most portable USB or Firewire external hard drives
|
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|
|
Great construction. Metal enclosure feels with black matte textured finish feels great. Solid and rugged
|
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|
|
Bus powered, only external SSD solution that is
|
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|
|
Just a single Thunderbolt port, so no daisy chaining. I had to disconnect my monitor for testing.
|
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|
|
BYOC - Bring your own cable. $49.00 USD from Apple
|
|
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|
|
Elgato says the unit has an optimal data transfer rate of 270 MB/second for data reads.
|
|
|
|
|
Blackmagic Disk Speed Tests
|
|
|
|
|
5GB Test file
|
|
|
|
|
OWC Mercury Elite Pro Mini (500 GB 5400 RPM) Firewire 800 - $139.99
|
|
|
|
|
Read/Write around 52 MB/s
|
|
|
|
|
Elgato Thunderbolt SSD 120GB - $430.00
|
|
|
|
|
Read 211 MB/s
|
|
|
|
|
Write 114 MB/s
|
|
|
|
|
2011 early 15" Macbook Pro (500 GB 5400 RPM)
|
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|
|
Read/Write around 45 MB/s
|
|
|
|
|
Real world copy tests
|
|
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|
|
3.95GB M4V video file. "Captain America"
|
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|
|
Desktop to OWC Drive
|
|
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|
|
Copy to - 1:17.4 sec
|
|
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|
|
Copy from - 1:18.7 sec
|
|
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|
|
Desktop and Thunderbolt SSD
|
|
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|
|
Copy to - 1:17.0 sec
|
|
|
|
|
Copy from - 1:19.4 sec
|
|
|
|
|
Thought the bottleneck might be my Macbook Pro, so tired on an Air and got the same results
|
|
|
|
|
The Elgato SSDs are the 3G ones.
|
|
|
|
|
Barefeats did more extensive test with the AJA tools and got better Write results.
|
|
|
|
|
I re-ran the tests with the AJA System Test tool using a 4GB test file size
|
|
|
|
|
241.6 MB/s write
|
|
|
|
|
247.0 MB/s read
|
|
|
|
|
iCloud and Apple IDs still confusing
|
|
|
|
|
How Apple thinks it should be:
|
|
|
|
|
Single Apple ID that is your iTunes and iCloud ID
|
|
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|
|
The trouble is that unless you are just signing up for an Apple ID, iTunes, and iCloud today this is all but impossible
|
|
|
|
|
Adding to the frustration is the fact that Apple has no way to allow you to consolidate Apple IDs or iTunes accounts
|
|
|
|
|
The reality for most people
|
|
|
|
|
You have one or possibly more Apple IDs
|
|
|
|
|
You have a .Mac, Mobile Me, and or iCloud account that may or may not be the same Apple ID
|
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|
|
|
You have a shared iTunes Apple ID used by all members of your family
|
|
|
|
|
or potentially worse, all family members have different Apple IDs with music, movie, TV show, book, and app purchases under different accounts.
|
|
|
|
|
What do you do?
|
|
|
|
|
I think the way to tackle it is from a problem/ solution approach
|
|
|
|
|
If you are a single person and have your iCloud and iTunes accounts associated under the same Apple ID you are golden and very lucky
|
|
|
|
|
If you are single and have an iTunes Apple ID and a different iCloud (Mobile Me) account I think it's easiest to keep them separate.
|
|
|
|
|
You can configure all iCloud services using the iCloud Apple ID and make iTunes purchases using the other Apple ID
|
|
|
|
|
This is actually what I'm doing
|
|
|
|
|
If that iTunes Apple ID is the one shared by your family then this is good too because you can continue to share iTunes purchases, iTunes in the Cloud, iTunes Match, Home Sharing, etc. under that ID
|
|
|
|
|
The one downside is if you enable iTunes in the Cloud auto downloads everyone gets the same content
|
|
|
|
|
Different iTunes Apple IDs
|
|
|
|
|
This can work if you are the only person that needs access to your purchases, but gets tricky for sharing content in a family
|
|
|
|
|
If you have already set up this scenario then there isn't really a way to consolidate purchases
|
|
|
|
|
The exception is music that was purchased after Apple went DRM free
|
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For all other content the work around is that you can copy from one library to another and then authorize it using the original account it was purchased under
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Apple allows content to be authorized on up to 5 computers and unlimited iOS devices
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You cannot take advantage of iTunes in the Cloud services with multiple Apple IDs on a single Mac
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You can change the login, but then cannot switch back for 90 days.
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Closing
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Podcast Marketplace
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Thanks to my sponsors
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Faronics, Deep Freeze. 5.0 released with Lion compatibility
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Circus Ponies
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Smile
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Gazelle
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VMWare
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Keep emails coming. Audio comments.
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281-622-4269 or 281-Mac-I-Am-9
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PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
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MacCast Forum
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Follow me on Twitter
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