General Apple and Mac desktop news is covered in Mac News Review. iPad, iPod, iPhone, and
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Review. All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
Upgrading my 2 GHz Core
2 Duo MacBook to 4 GB of RAM several years back speeded it up
nicely in most regards, and I'm convinced that 4 GB should be the
minimum memory configuration for any Mac user who does more than
light-duty stuff on their computer. However, the downside to having
more RAM is that it can result in tedious lags - sometimes as long as
20 or 30 seconds - in putting the machine to sleep, and wake-up is more
sluggish as well.
That's because since 2005, OS X's default "safe sleep" mode has been
to write the entire memory contents to your hard disk or SSD, and it's
especially tiresome if you have a slow hard drive like the one in my
MacBook. I've been pondering another upgrade to 8 GB while RAM
prices are low, but I am concerned that go-to-sleep time will get
really ridiculous. Happily, there are workarounds.
If your laptop is almost always plugged into a wall socket, like my
workhorse MacBook is, and you rarely run the battery low, this one-line
Terminal hack (courtesy
of Lifehacker) can restore the rapid sleep/wake-up cycles we used
to expect from Apple laptops:
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0
If your usage profile changes and you deem it prudent to reactivate
safe sleep, running the same command substituting a "3" instead of a
"0" at the end will do the trick - ergo:
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3
(Publisher's note: The Mac
mini, being essentially a MacBook in a desktop enclosure, also
writes a RAM image to its hard drive at shutdown. Changing this
behavior not only speeds shut down, it also frees up a block of hard
drive space equal to the amount of system memory in your Mac mini.
dk)
A more elegant, albeit not free, solution is Patrick Stein's $3.99
SmartSleep utility that offers five different sleep modes to chose
from:
system default:
sleep & hibernate - machine sleeps and hibernates.
(default)
sleep - machine will go to sleep only (saves state in RAM only,
battery keeps RAM contents)
hibernate only - machine will go to hibernate only. (saves state on
disk, battery will not be used)
smart sleep (if your Mac has a battery )
sleep only
hibernate only
sleep and hibernate
Note that Just Sleep means that while the notebook will go to
sleep fast, you lose the ability to change the battery, as the battery
is needed to keep the contents of the memory (RAM) alive. Just Sleep
and Hibernate will wake the computer fast, but sleeping will take
ages, as the contents of the memory are saved to disk before entering
the sleep.
SmartSleep lets you select each sleep state, and the new SmartSleep
state lets your notebook just sleep while the battery has a high level
of charge. If the battery level drops below a certain point (default is
less then 20% or 20 minutes), it will switch to Sleep and Hibernate.
Consequently, you get the best of both worlds, and the lifetime of your
SSD (if you have one) will be expanded, since your MacBook won't write
a hibernate file as often.
SmartSleep Features
QuickSleep feature New - sleep your Mac immediately the way you
want.
SmartSleep Menu Item New - figure out the current Sleep State and
QuickSleep.
Insomnia feature in Menu Item New to keep your Mac awake.
Timed insomnia. Keep your Mac awake only for a time.
Five different sleep modes to chose from:
system default
smart sleep (if your Mac has a battery )
sleep only
hibernate only
sleep and hibernate
Does not need admin privileges
Runs as a application not a preference pane
Beeps when closing the lid, so you don't forget that you have
insomnia enabled (plugin).
Computerworld blogger Matt Hamblen reports that while his older
MacBook was being replaced with a newer one, he worked for two days via
an iPad 2 and a Bluetooth
keyboard.
Hamblen says he was able to research and file stories, and he
downloaded an app simply called
Desktop for 99¢ that allows him to split his iPad's screen
with notes on the left and a writing area on the right. However, he
says he couldn't get the text area to automatically email his stories,
so he had to copy and paste and open Gmail on the left panel, or in the
regular browser screen, in order to file, observing that this process
is not as secure as some large enterprises would probably want.
However, Hamblen says he can see some advantages to having a lighter
machine to carry around to business meetings in other cities, and while
he's had the opportunity to play with many tablets in the past two
years, this time he was trying to be serious and productive, and he
found it could work, noting the he hears just about everybody saying
tablets won't replace laptops, but his experience makes him wonder, and
he bets there are many workers who could function well with a tablet,
keyboard and accessories.
Computerworld's Scot Finnie suggests that the tablet computer
phenomenon is bigger than you probably realize, noting that before the
third-generation iPad's release, Apple
announced that it had sold 55 million iPads to date, with the company's
CEO Tim Cook putting that metric in perspective at a conference in
February where he observed, "It took us 22 years to sell 55 million
Macs; it took us about five years to sell 22 million iPods; and it took
us about three years to sell that many iPhones."
Finnie cites IDC's February forecast that just under 90 million
tablets will be sold worldwide this year, with category sales projected
to approach 140 million by 2015, predicting that the marker will be
fairly evenly split between Apple's iOS capturing 51% of sales and
Android taking 47%. (That forecast doesn't seem to leave enough room
for Windows 8 tablets, which I expect to be a bigger factor than
Gartner evidently does - cm.)
However, Finnie notes that PC sales are still growing modestly, with
a March 2012 Gartner report predicting global PC shipments to hit 368
million units this year - a 4.4% year-over-year increase - and stronger
growth in 2013 with sales projected to reach 400 million units. Ergo:
Desktop and notebook PCs aren't even close to being dead yet and are
not likely to be in the foreseeable future, due to productivity
limitations inherent to the touchscreen and virtual keyboard driven
user interfaces on tablets that will keep content creators and power
users in the desktop and laptop PC fold for the foreseeable future.
Finnie says he's somewhat ambivalent about the third-generation
iPad, suggesting that it will likely be remembered mainly for selling
in even greater numbers than the iPad 2 did, but in the long view,
while the PC isn't dead, its days are numbered, with the touchscreen
tablet the next rung on a 30-year evolutionary ladder on up (or down in
size) through tower desktop machines; luggable, sewing-machine-size
"portables"; and 7 lb. notebook PCs, progressively getting smaller
and lighter, with the tablet logically the next evolutionary
iteration.
NPD: Changes to the Tablet Market to Blur the Line
between Tablets and Notebooks
PR: Reflecting shifts in both the competitive landscape and
consumer demand, the tablet market is poised to accommodate new form
factors and accessory options that will bring these devices closer to
the capabilities of notebooks, according to a new report from The NPD
Group's Connected Intelligence. The report, "Tablets: Resizing the
Smartphone, Redefining the Notebook," examines the impact of upcoming
competitors to Apple's iPad (including Android 4.0 and Windows 8),
competition versus Ultrabooks, accessory options, and implications of
the growing tablet market for wireless carriers, cable operators, and
content providers.
The report notes that while the introduction of Windows 8 tablets
later in 2012 is not expected to steal significant share from the
notebook market, it will be a strong factor behind the blurring of PCs
and tablets. Many Windows 8 tablets stand to have larger screen
sizes and more advanced configurations, but they will, most
importantly, have the ability to function as a full PC, causing PC
vendors to rethink some marketing and sales strategies.
"PC vendors must balance the opportunity to sell an integrated
Windows 8 device that can potentially operate in both tablet and
clamshell form factors with the opportunity to sell secondary companion
tablet devices that may be smaller and less expensive," says NPD
Connected Intelligence executive director Ross Rubin. "Among consumers
who are looking to purchase a new tablet, screen size and keyboards,
two main components of a PC, are important characteristics for these
future purchases."
According to the report, 40% of tablet purchase intenders who have a
screen size in mind would prefer a screen smaller than 10". Access to a
physical keyboard is desired by 40% of consumers who plan to purchase a
tablet. Of that 40%, most prefer an integrated keyboard over a
detachable or docking keyboard.
"The lack of a keyboard has been a defining characteristic of most
tablets on the market," observes Rubin. "However, access to a keyboard
is the most popular reason why consumers who own both a tablet and a
notebook use their notebook for tasks such as Web access and personal
productivity. As tablets expand from content consumption to content
creation, consumers are seeking a broader array of input options and
screen sizes."
TechSci: Ultrabooks and MacBook Air Market to Grow
at 92% Compound Annual Growth Rate
PR: Ultrabooks are expected to boost sales in the segment
where only Apple MacBook Air existed until recently, according to the
recently published report: "Global Ultrathin Portables (Ultrabooks
& MacBook Air) Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2017," by
TechSci Research.
The report observes that PC Ultrabooks are mounting a challenge in
the ultraportable computer segment where heretofore only Apple's
MacBook Air existed as a lightweight, ultraportable, thin, high
performance notebook. Intel initiated, and is backing and pushing the
Ultrabook specification, which has defined physical design and internal
specifications with an entry-level price target lower than the cheapest
MacBook Air.
Six players launched Ultrabooks within 6 months of Intel's
announcement of the Ultrabook formula, and some 10 models of Ultrabooks
are now on the market. With this increasing availability of choices for
the consumers at more affordable prices, the MacBook Air/Ultrabook
class is expected to be the central focus of the laptop computer market
for the foreseeable future. Combined together, the global Ultrathin
Portables market was around US$ 6.04 Billion in 2011. While Smartphones
have captured the biggest market share in the global computing devices
market recently, they are not in direct competition with Apple MacBook
Air or Intel's Ultrabooks.
TechSci Research predicts that the market for lightweight
ultraportable notebooks will expand enormously in the coming years.
Globally, the Ultrabooks and MacBook Air Market is expected to grow at
a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 92% till 2017. The report notes
that Apple is still popularly perceived to be a luxury brand, and PC
Ultrabooks less so. However TechSci Research predicts that the entire
market size for Ultrathin Portables will increase as a greater number
of retailers enter the market offering competitive products at
competitive prices.
This move is expected to decrease the average Ultrabook selling
price which was around US$960 in 2011. Acer was the first player to
launch an Ultrabook as per Intel's specifications. Asus, Toshiba,
Lenovo, LG and HP have followed suit. TechSci Research observes that
Apple's strategy of winning on profit margin instead of raw sales
volume has restricted the pool of potential buyers for the MacBook Air
and thus, the market's overall size until recently, since it was
essentially the only player. However, with the entry of Ultrabooks, the
ultrathin portables category is expected to represent up to 61% of the
global computing devices market by 2017.
New 15" MacBook Pro Production to Start in April,
13" MacBook Pro in June
DigiTimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that while Apple OEMs
will start mass producing a new generation of 15-inchers in April,
their sources in the upstream supply chain are saying that the company
is ordering far greater numbers of a new 13.3" Pro than of the 15"
model, suggesting that Apple is more focused on the 13.3" notebook
segment. However, the word they have is that the new 13.3" MacBook Pro
will not enter mass production until June.
Lee and Adam Hwang also report that sometime Apple subcontract
supplier Pegatron has undertaken exclusive ODM production of a 15"
Ultrabook for Acer since mid-March, with monthly shipments of 100,000
units, according to Taiwan-based supply chain sources.
Acer's big new Ultrabook features a fiberglass case and is expected
to be launched in April-May, the unnamed sources told the reporters,
noting that monthly shipment volumes ranging between 30,000 and 50,000
units are more typical for most ultrabooks, so Acer's planned monthly
shipment volume for this new model is ambitious.
Lee and Hwang observe that while most first-generation Ultrabooks
have been 13" screen-size models, 14" and 15" are expected to be the
mainstream display sizes for second-generation models from the second
quarter of this year going forward. They also say their industry
sources anticipate Ultrabook sales will significantly increase in Q2
2012 in a first wave due to Intel's expected launch of its latest Ivy
Bridge Core i processors, with a second wave to come in the third or
fourth quarters when Microsoft launches Windows 8.
SXSW Homage to Oscar Winner The Artist -
WaterField Designs Muzetto Outback Laptop and iPad Bag
PR: SFbags.com pays homage to the 2012 Academy Award winner
The Artist at the SXSW Film festival with this silent video
featuring the Waterfield Muzetto Outback iPad/laptop bag - a "man bag"
that complements either a casual work suit or hiking boots. The
flexible Muzetto can be worn across the chest with anything or as a
shoulder bag, and has you ready to trek the Urban Outback in high
style.
WaterField Designs Muzetto Outback Bag for Laptops and the New
Apple iPad
WaterField Designs Muzetto
Outback is offered as a waxed canvas version of its popular Muzetto
line of cases. The Outback is available in dark brown canvas that gains
character over time, a choice of six accent colors and five sizes - two
designed specifically for the new Apple iPad. The Muzetto Outback began
shipping on March 26, and like all WaterField Designs bags is made
entirely in San Francisco.
Originally used for waterproofing sailing garments and popularized
by mariners, gamekeepers, and outdoorsmen, waxed canvas is a naturally
durable, time-tested fabric that brings a rugged and weathered look to
the new Muzetto Outback. The bag is sewn in small batches to take full
advantage of the material's unique characteristics; working the fabric
during production brings out its distressed quality, making it an ideal
match for the style-conscious, urban adventurer.
"What appeals to me about waxed canvas is the old
world, retro look," explains Gary Waterfield, company founder. "It ages
like leather, and each bag develops its own unique character. I like to
think it's something a modern Indiana Jones would use for his new iPad
tablet. Plus, scratches and marks can be softened by applying some heat
from a hair dryer, giving it that handsome, well-worn look."
The Muzetto Outback is a
vertical messenger bag with one main compartment to hold the iPad or
laptop, a back pocket for easy-to-retrieve paperwork, a pocket under
the flap, a zippered interior pocket for stashing cash, and an
adjustable strap. A Waterfield signature gold liner lights up the
interior making it easy to see contents. To reduce shoulder and back
fatigue, a removable shoulder pad with a gripping underside keeps the
strap firmly in place. The bag's flap length and angled sides add to a
svelte look. The Outback's urban rustic style complements anything from
casual work outfits to well-worn hiking boots.
Personalization options
include six accent color choices and five sizes: the Personal Size for
daily necessities including a wallet, cellphone, digital camera, and a
naked iPad or an iPad in a minimalist case; the 10" Portable Size for
the iPad within a protective case; the 11" for the 11.6" MacBook Air,
the Laptop Size for up to a 13" MacBook, and the 15" for the 15"
MacBook Pro or similarly sized laptops - naked or within a SleeveCase.
All size options are small enough to provide unrestricted motion yet
large enough to stow essentials and digital gear.
Pricing & Availability
Personal Size Price: $149, Dimensions: 10.5" x 8.5" x 1.5"
10-inch Portable Size Price: $159, Dimensions: 11.5" x 9.3" x
2.0"
11-inch Size Price: $169, Dimensions: 12.25" x 9.75" x 2.25"
13-inch Laptop Size Price: $179, Dimensions: 14" x 11" x 2.5"
15-inch Laptop Size Price: $189, Dimensions: 15.5" x 11.75" x
2.7"
Colors: Distressed, dark brown, waxed canvas with color accents in
black, copper, pine, green, flame, or pearl.
Reflection: Wirelessly Mirror Your iPhone 4S or
iPad 2 to Any Mac Running OS X 10.6+
PR: Reflection lets you easily demo iOS apps on any Mac
running OS X Snow Leopard or Lion using AirPlay Mirroring on
iOS 5, or kick back and play any iOS game on your Mac's
screen.
Note that Reflection only works with iPad 2
(and new iPad) and iPhone 4S, since AirPlay mirroring requires the
beefed up hardware of the iPad 2 up and iPhone 4S to handle the
mirroring. This an iOS 5 imposed limitation.
To enable mirroring, download Reflection and copy it to your
Applications folder. After launching the app, double-tap the home
button on your iPhone 4S or iPad 2 and swipe right on the
multitask tray until you see the AirPlay icon next to the volume
slider. Tap this and select your Mac from the list. Last, toggle the
"Mirror" switch, and voilà!
You can AirPlay audio from your iPhone 4S or iPad 2. Reflection
sends the screen and audio from your device to your Mac. You can also
use your Mac as an AirPlay audio receiver (without any video).
Your Mac and iOS device must be on the same network to communicate.
This means your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S must be connected to WiFi as
Reflection can't communicate over 3G. Make sure your devices are using
the same WiFi access point as well.
Jailbroken devices may or may not work with Reflection.
Mac of the Day: PowerBook 500 Series, introduced 1994.05.16. 'Blackbird' includes a 25 to 33 MHz 68040 along with smart batteries and grayscale or color displays.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
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We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
WaterField Designs Muzetto
Outback is offered as a waxed canvas version of its popular Muzetto
line of cases. The Outback is available in dark brown canvas that gains
character over time, a choice of six accent colors and five sizes - two
designed specifically for the new Apple iPad. The Muzetto Outback began
shipping on March 26, and like all WaterField Designs bags is made
entirely in San Francisco.
"What appeals to me about waxed canvas is the old
world, retro look," explains Gary Waterfield, company founder. "It ages
like leather, and each bag develops its own unique character. I like to
think it's something a modern Indiana Jones would use for his new iPad
tablet. Plus, scratches and marks can be softened by applying some heat
from a hair dryer, giving it that handsome, well-worn look."
The Muzetto Outback is a
vertical messenger bag with one main compartment to hold the iPad or
laptop, a back pocket for easy-to-retrieve paperwork, a pocket under
the flap, a zippered interior pocket for stashing cash, and an
adjustable strap. A Waterfield signature gold liner lights up the
interior making it easy to see contents. To reduce shoulder and back
fatigue, a removable shoulder pad with a gripping underside keeps the
strap firmly in place. The bag's flap length and angled sides add to a
svelte look. The Outback's urban rustic style complements anything from
casual work outfits to well-worn hiking boots.
Personalization options
include six accent color choices and five sizes: the Personal Size for
daily necessities including a wallet, cellphone, digital camera, and a
naked iPad or an iPad in a minimalist case; the 10" Portable Size for
the iPad within a protective case; the 11" for the 11.6" MacBook Air,
the Laptop Size for up to a 13" MacBook, and the 15" for the 15"
MacBook Pro or similarly sized laptops - naked or within a SleeveCase.
All size options are small enough to provide unrestricted motion yet
large enough to stow essentials and digital gear.
Note that Reflection only works with iPad 2
(and new iPad) and iPhone 4S, since AirPlay mirroring requires the
beefed up hardware of the iPad 2 up and iPhone 4S to handle the
mirroring. This an iOS 5 imposed limitation.
