The world of IT technology

9 Essential Resources for Mac Newbies

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:51:12 +0000

So, you finally let Windows out to rot and made the switch to the Mac. Feeling a little anxious about it? Well, first of all, relax. There are plenty of resources out there to help you get situation, not to mention an amazing community of enthusiasts who have no problem helping you find your way. To get you started, here’s a list of 9 essential resources you should add to your arsenal right now. No matter your experience level with computers, these resources can surely help you find your way.

Follow this articles author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.

How to Restore the Status Bar in Lion

admin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 01:46:20 +0000

Do you know any Terminal tricks or third-party apps that can bring these three things back to Lion? First, the winding gear in the lower-right corner of a Finder window that lets me know the information is being accessed, just not visible yet. Second, the line of info at the bottom of the Finder window that tells me the number of items and disk space remaining. And third, the translucent QuickLook window, instead of solid gray.

In Mac OS X Lion, Apple took it upon themselves to automatically hide the status bar in the Finder. This status bar lets you see how many files are in a particular folder, how much space is currently being used, and also gives you the small gear that lets you know that a folder’s contents are currently being loaded. You can show this status bar by clicking View > Show Status Bar (or by pressing Command-/ on your keyboard).

The status bar isn’t actually gone in Lion-just hidden. You can unhide it from the View menu.

Getting QuickLook back to its transparent background color, however, is a different story. Currently, there is no way to change the background color, but if you need to view something over a black background instead of the polished metal background that comes standard with QuickLook, you can always enter full screen mode by clicking the small button in the upper-right corner of the QuickLook window.

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How to Quickly Upgrade Your MacBook Pro Without Buying a New One

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:41:50 +0000

You know the symptoms: applications don’t open as fast as they used to, and you always seem to be running out of space on your hard drive. It’s painful to admit, but your MacBook Pro that was so shiny a year ago may finally be showing its age. But you don’t have to put your faithful companion out to pasture–or make another $2,000 trip to the Apple Store–just yet. Save those pennies while you work (and play) more productively by upgrading your MacBook Pro yourself.

It’s easier to do than you might think, due in part to the fact that we MacBook Pro owners don’t have nearly as many options as our pals with Mac Pros. In fact, our upgrade paths boil down to adding RAM and swapping out the current hard drive. Yet these upgrades can deliver serious performance gains, and thanks to Cupertino’s design sense, they’re relatively painless, too. Still, as with any major alteration to your Mac, don’t forget to back up your data before you get started.

Add More RAM

More RAM lets your Mac handle memory-intensive tasks like gaming, video editing, and running multiple applications simultaneously. Adding as much RAM as possible helps keep your Mac ready for these tasks for years to come, but you don’t necessarily need to install as much as your machine will hold. Even an extra gigabyte or two over your current configuration may be enough to make a difference in day-to-day use.

More RAM means a mightier, multi-tasking Mac.

For step-by-step instructions about finding out how much RAM you have, where to buy it, and how to open up your MacBook Pro and finally do the deed, check out our handy how-to.

Install a New Hard Drive

A higher-capacity HDD can breathe new life into your not-quite-old MacBook Pro.

A bigger hard disk drive (or HDD) means more room for songs, movies, apps, and documents. When shopping for a new HDD, remember that MacBook Pros use 2.5-inch SATA drives that run at 5400 or 7200 RPM. These speeds determine how quickly data can be read from, and written to, the drive (the more revolutions per minute, the faster your drive). The vendors mentioned in our RAM installation guide also make great sources for hard drives, and the documentation that came with your computer has information about how to install them. If your manual is someplace at the bottom of a drawer like ours, here’s a link to Apple’s manuals for the entire MacBook Pro line.

SSD drives cost more than conventional drives, but their speed benefits can be worth it.

But if you have a need for speed as well as storage, consider installing a solid-state drive (or SSD) instead. These drives use flash memory that has no moving parts, just like a MacBook Air, so data can be read from them even faster–even up to twice as fast as a conventional drive. If that sounds like a good deal, we don’t blame you. In fact, we’ve put together a how-to that will help you choose an SSD and install it while preserving your current data.

How to Improve Your Handwriting on an iPad

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:36:50 +0000

Use a Stylus

Practice, Practice, Practice

Auto smoothing FTW!

Watch That Wrist — And Those Fingers

The iPad’s ability to register Multi-Touch gestures has allowed developers to create some truly innovative applications. Unfortunately, Multi-Touch is the pits when it comes to taking hand written notes on a screen. Most of us have spent the bulk of our writing lives resting our wrists and fists on the page while we scribble away. Doing that on a multitouch tablet like the iPad can leave your notes full of bizarre scribbles, lines and other unwanted elements that are the result of the iOS mistaking your body’s other points of screen contact as data input. Some note taking programs like Penultimate offer features that disallow input from poorly placed fingers and wrists, letting you write without having to worry about your wrist accidentally bumping out any NSFW scribbles on your screen during tour of duty in your office’s conference room.

Galaxy Nexus Set for Debut Tonight

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 06:44:02 +0000

The hottest new Android smartphone contender to the wildly successful iPhone 4S will be launched by Samsung and Google in Hong Kong within 12 hours, insiders say.

Called the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the smartphone would be the first to run Android 4.0, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich, the mobile operating system that unifies tablet and smartphone software.

NTT DoCoMo recently tweeted that it will have the Galaxy Nexus for its customers in Japan sometime in November, according to BGR.com.

Sources have also said that Verizon Wireless will be the smartphone’s exclusive U.S. carrier and will put the device on sale sometime this month, although Verizon would not comment when asked today. The phone is expected to run on the fast Verizon LTE network.

Many specs of the coming Galaxy Nexus smartphone have been leaked based on information from informed sources, and BGR recently described it as having a 4.65-in. touchscreen, making it among the largest, with a 1280 x 720-pixel Super Amoled HD display. (The iPhone 4S has a 3.5-in. Retina display touchscreen, with 960 x 640-pixel resolution, which Apple notes is at 326 pixels per inch.)

Other details include a 1.2 GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 32GB of storage , support for near-field communications and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.

The presentation will be held at 10 p.m. ET tonight, or 10 a.m. Wednesday Hong Kong time. Google has also set up a livestream.

Apple Stores Require iPhone 4S Shoppers ‘Reserve’ Phone Online

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:36:40 +0000

Eager iPhone 4S shoppers need to log onto Apple.com the night before buying the phone at their local Apple store so they can “reserve” their purchase for the next day. The unusual approach to iPhone 4S sales is to prevent lines and disappointed shoppers at Apple Stores as the newest iPhone 4S continues to break sales records.

Apple’s reservation policy is causing confusion with Apple customers and Apple staff as it was only created on Monday, according to an Apple Store representative. The representative also said it’s unclear how long the reservation system will be in place or whether it will change in the coming days.

Apple says it recently instituted the reservation-only system for in-store purchases of the iPhone 4S at retail Apple Stores. Walk-in iPhone 4S buyers will not be turned away if there is sufficient iPhone 4S stock that is not already reserved. The reservation system acts as a guarantee for retail shoppers ensuring that the phone model will not be sold out when they show up to make a purchase.

“[The] iPhone 4S is available in store by reservation only,” according to the “how to buy” page on Apple’s Website. “Reserve yours after 9 p.m. tonight for pickup tomorrow.” The new policy was first reported by MacRumors.

Apple.com’s reservation system does not require payment of the iPhone 4S or a deposit, but does require your name and Apple user ID.

Reserve Spot In Line or New Handset

Apple says it cannot guarantee that a reservation will ensure you get an iPhone 4S, but it appears that should be the case for most people making reservations. You will be able to make a reservation for an iPhone 4S between 9 p.m. and midnight the day before your pick-up. It’s not clear if the midnight cut off is Eastern time or local time based on your location.

The day of your reservation you can pick up your new iPhone 4S between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., but the Apple Store representative was unsure if Apple would sell remaining iPhone 4S stock to non-reservation walk-in customers after 6 p.m.

Apple recently announced that it had sold more than four million iPhone 4S devices during its first three days of sales. The iPhone 4S went on sale on Friday and is available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK. Apple’s new handset will go on sale in another 22 countries on Friday, October 28.

@ianpaul Today@PCWorld .

RIM Announces BBX Operating System: A Unified OS for Tablets and Phones

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:31:57 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO–The BlackBerry DevCon conference kicked off here Tuesday with RIM President and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis unveiling a brand new operating system for tablets and phones: BBX OS.

RIM BlackBerry PlayBook tabletThe BBX OS is a hybrid of QNX, the operating system found in the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with the BlackBerry OS, which is currently found on RIM phones.

The operating system will allow developers to work with a large number of open developer libraries. RIM will seek out various open source libraries and port them so developers can work on them immediately for their BBX apps.

RIM did not reveal much about the appearance or features of BBX other than it combines the best of the phone and tablet platforms. Speakers showed a demo of a photo application app, built on a cascades framework that mimics sorting through piles of photos. The demo looked pretty cool: The photos move fluidly across the display and have a bit of a 3D effect. RIM also placed a lot of emphasis on 3D gaming and HTML5 applications on the new platform.

But when? Lazaridis did not say when we’ll see the first BBX devices. He also did not say what the new OS means for consumers. Will people with BlackBerry 7 phones be able to upgrade to BBX OS? What about PlayBook tablet owners?

This has been a tough year for RIM. Millions of customers worldwide experienced outages with their BlackBerry devices last week. Lazaridis said Tuesday that, as an apology, customers will receive $100 for apps in BlackBerry App World.

Meanwhile, the company has been slowly declining in popularity among customers in North America. According to Neilson’s Mobile Insights survey conducted over the summer, 40 percent of smartphones in the United States ran Android, while 28 percent were iPhones. RIM only accounted for 19 percent of phones among consumers.

I’ve written extensively about the need for RIM to completely revamp its mobile operating system. It looks like BBX OS will do just that, but will it be too late for RIM to win over consumers? With the iPhone 4S and iOS5 shipping last week, Google revealing Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Microsoft’s already released Mango update, RIM needs to act fast.

If RIM waits too long to ship BBX OS phones, I fear that it won’t be able to win over consumers. We’ll be at BlackBerry DevCon 2011 all week, so stay tuned for more information about BBX OS and the future of RIM BlackBerry phones and tablets.

Lookout Releases Mobile Security App On iOS

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:25:20 +0000

Lookout, already a well known name among Android enthusiasts, is looking to give iPhone users a hand when it comes to protecting their mobile data. Lookout allows you to easily backup and restore your contacts list.Today, the company launched its mobile security app in Apple’s App Store. Lookout Mobile Security on iOS trades the virus scanner, found on the Android version, for a slick and friendly UI. The app will warn you if you are connecting to an unsecured Wi-Fi, show you which apps are currently transmitting your location, as well as tell you if your phone has been jailbroken. Lookout Mobile Security will also let you backup your contacts to the Lookout servers to make it easier to move from one device to another. You can even backup your contacts on Android and restore them on an iOS device (or vice versa).There is also a feature that allows you to find your iPhone, but it does decidedly less than Apple’s Find My iPhone service. You can still locate your device and make it scream, but you can’t remotely wipe or lock your phone. The app is free, and is worth checking out if you are especially concerned about mobile security. Though most of the malware we see is on Android, that doesn’t mean iOS users shouldn’t be cautious about mobile security. After all, it doesn’t take much to expose your sensitive data to prying eyes.

Motorola Droid Razr Smartphone Comes to Verizon in November for $299

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:15:09 +0000

Motorola Droid RazrThe Droid Razr, announced today and launching in November, is perhaps the thinnest smartphone to date, and among the lightest ever made. Motorola says the new Verizon phone is 0.28 inches thick, and that it weighs only 0.28 pounds.

Despite its lack of girth, the Droid Razr combines beefy specs, fancy materials, and its slim design in an attempt to rule the holiday shopping season. The Android 2.3 phone will launch on Verizon Wireless in November for $299 with a two-year contract.

The Droid Razr’s internals hit all the bullet points you’d expect in a high-end smartphone. There’s a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED qHD display (that’s 960-pixel by 540-pixel resolution), an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p video capture, an HD front-facing camera, and 32 GB of memory, split between internal storage and a microSD card. It’s also a 4G LTE phone.

On the outside, the Droid Razr sports laser-cut woven Kevlar fiber and a Gorilla Glass display, highlighted by aluminum accents and wrapped around a stainless steel core. A splash guard is designed to protect the phone from flying liquids.

Motorola’s stuffed a 1,780 mAh battery into the Droid Razr, and claims that will give a user 12.5 hours of 3G talk time or 8.9 hours of video playback. No word on how long the phone will run using 4G LTE, which tends to drain a phone battery in a hurry. To help conserve battery power, the Droid Razr can perform automated actions such as turning off Bluetooth and GPS at home, or reduce display brightness and processor speed when the battery gets low. This system, dubbed “Smart Actions,” can supposedly boost battery life by 30 percent, according to Motorola.

The Droid Razr runs Android 2.3 with what appears to be the same user interface as Motorola’s Droid Bionic. That includes the ability to send and receive files from a linked PC–the Razr’s version is called “Motocast,” as opposed to the Droid Bionic’s Zumocast app–and support for Motorola’s Webtop application, which runs a full version of Firefox on Motorola’s specialized laptop-like accessories that the company calls lapdocks. The first lapdock launched with the Motorola Atrix.

Verizon will start taking pre-orders for the Droid Razr on October 27, but hasn’t announced a firm release date. Tonight, Samsung and Google are expected to announce another high-end phone for Verizon, the Galaxy Nexus, which is expected to run the latest Android mobile operating system codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich. That means prospective Android phone buyers will have a tough choice to make in the weeks ahead.

In addition to the Droid Razr, Motorola announced the MotoActv, a tiny MP3 player that looks a lot like an iPod Nano, but focuses on fitness, with a calorie counter and a Web portal for keeping track of fitness goals. It’ll cost an eye-popping $249 for an 8GB model and $299 for a 16GB model, and goes on sale November 6.

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Samsung Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0: It’s Finally Here

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:13:20 +0000

It seems like we’ve been waiting for the first Android Ice Cream Sandwich phone for eternity, but at last long last, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has arrived. At a press event Wednesday morning in Hong Kong, Samsung and Google revealed the first phone with Google’s next generation operating system, Android 4.0.

Like the Samsung Nexus S, the Android Gingerbread flagship phone, the Galaxy Nexus has a curved, contour glass display. The idea is that the phone fits to the shape of your hand, making for a more ergonomic experience.

The Super AMOLED Plus display is rather large at 4.65 inches with a 1280-by-720-pixel resolution. This is the same display technology we’ve seen on the Galaxy S II series of phones and the Droid Charge.

The T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S II, at 4.5 inches, felt slightly too large for my hands and text looked a bit on the fuzzy side. From what we saw, however, the Nexus Galaxy might not feel oversized — despite the larger display. The bezel around the phone is incredibly thin at only 4.29mm so you get mostly display.

The Galaxy Nexus will come in both HSPA+ and LTE flavors. The only confirmed carrier was Japan’s DoCoMo. The Galaxy Nexus is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, making for one heck of a powerful, fast phone.

The Nexus has both a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera and a 1.3-megapixel camera. According the Samsung, the Galaxy Nexus also has zero shutter lag, meaning there’s no delay between hitting the shutter button and when the photo actually processes.

Other features include Near Field Communication (NFC) as well as a Barometer. At the Google I/O developer conference in May, when Ice Cream was first announced, the company placed a lot of stress on the NFC technology. With it, you can exchange contact information, make mobile payments, play games, and do other tasks.

Pricing for the Galaxy Nexus has not yet been announced. The Galaxy Nexus will launch in November in the U.S., Europe and Asia–and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

The world of IT technology

9 Essential Resources for Mac Newbies

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