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Why now is the time to buy a MacBook Air

June 11, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I’ve always liked the idea of the MacBook Air.

They’re light as paper, look sexy, and I know I’d take it everywhere.

However, a few things have always kept me from buying it:

  • Speed: my MacBook Pro can simply handle and do more than the Air ever could
  • Battery Life: what’s the point of being super-portable if the battery life is worse than the MacBook Pro?
  • Price: cost was always a little rich for my blood, especially for just a lighter MacBook Pro

But the new MacBook Air just debuted, and it seems like Apple’s addressed all of the above:

  • Speed: “Apple also claims a modest performance boost to overall CPU speed, as well as a 40 percent speed boost to graphics processing.”
  • Battery Life: “The company claims the new Haswell-powered Airs can achieve up to 12 hours of battery life on the 13-inch model, and up to nine hours on the 11-inch model.”
  • Price: “The new MacBook Air models are available Monday and start at $999.”

Really, I can’t think of a reason to not get one now. And with the battery essentially shot on my current MacBook in its fourth year—it’s looking pretty tempting.

Would you buy the new MacBook Air? What have been your concerns with it in the past?

Apple debuts new software look…love it or hate it?

June 11, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Apple revealed the new iOS7 software today at the WWDC conference in San Francisco, which changes the entire look of your iPod and iPhone.

The redesign “takes a bold step away from previous versions by abandoning the use of textured paper and wood effects for icons”.

It’s a pretty bold step forward. Notably, the tacky green felt in the Game Center and stitched leather in the Find My Friends apps is gone.

Logos are bigger and brighter, textures are flatter, and fonts are thinner.

Photos has been updated for full-screen use, there’s a Control Center that gives you quick access to screen brightness, taking a picture, and changing a song, and Safari has a really nice looking scrolling feature.

According to Craig Federighi, VP of Software Engineering, “installing iOS 7 is like getting a new phone, but one you can already use.”

What do you think of the new look? Will you be upgrading?

Would you drive an Apple car?

June 10, 2013 / / 0 Comments

The iCar is one step closer to reality.

Apple just unveiled a new system dubbed “iOS in the Car”, which is an Apple-designed interface designed to work with car infotainment systems and your Apple device.

This goes beyond simple music playability, and includes “phone calls, maps/directions, and sending and receiving iMessages using your vehicle’s screen or eyes- and hands-free using Siri.”

This is a feature that can be on new cars as soon as next year from the following automakers:

  • Honda
  • Mercedes-Benz
  • Nissan
  • Ferrari
  • Chevy
  • Infiniti
  • Kia
  • Hyundai
  • Volvo
  • Acura
  • Opel
  • Jaguar

Here’s an example of the current system at work in a new Mercedes:

I really like this idea, mostly because so many car companies have tried and failed to create a truly viable in-car entertainment system that isn’t laggy, poorly-designed, limited, or difficult to access. The closest anyone has gotten to a successful system is Microsoft SYNC in Ford cars, but it looks like this system will make that look like Windows 98 in comparison.

So what do you think? Would you choose a car because it had this feature?

The old-school solution to your iPhone’s tinny speaker

October 11, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Everyone makes iPhone speakers now, with Bluetooth and all sorts of fancy gadgetry.

But what if you’re more of the back-to-basics type? Of the “simpler-is-better” sort?

Enter the iGramophone.

Combining the elegance of a Victrola with the best of Apple’s modern gadgets, the iGramophone is about as simple as it gets. Designer Matt Richmond took “a heavy piece of hardwood…carved a hole for the horn, a slot for his phone, and a channel to connect the two.”

But what if you have an iPhone 5 that has a different adapter?

No worries, as “the retail version of the iPhone Gramophone accepts all iPhone models – the new connector on the iPhone 5 poses no technical problems for its iron and brass horn.”

You can purchase your own iGramophone, in iPhone and iPad accommodating versions, from Restoration Hardware for $249.

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