May 28th, 2008
I’ve been participating in the DropBox beta now for a few days and whilst there any many similar competing services out there, the DropBox guys have really been able to distinguish themselves through their seamless OS integration.
Posted in Opinions | 3 Comments »
May 26th, 2008
(If you enjoyed this review, you can support the site by buying your Metrolite II via my Amazon affiliate link.)
I’ve had a few emails as to whether this case would fit the new aluminum MacBooks as well. Short answer: Definitely. The new MacBook is smaller than the old one and the slightly wider new MacBook Pro should fit with a tiny bit of a squeeze as well.
I was able to get hold of a Brenthaven Metrolite II case to take a look at, so this is a review after using it for a few days. Bear in mind I take my Macbook to university or my company Macbook to work on my bike nearly every day, so that’s the usage scenario I’m working with.
First look
This case is mainly designed to carry a Macbook or Macbook Pro around and also has a number of additional compartments for your accessories and other stuff.
Posted in Reviews | Comments »
May 22nd, 2008
I’ve recently taken up jogging and the iPhone has been a great tool in helping me to motivate myself to get out the door. I use the stopwatch to keep track of my running times and of course the iPod app to play music and podcasts to keep myself occupied.
After carrying the iPhone in its Artwizz Seejacket case for a few days (which honestly wasn’t that bad), I decided to purchase the Belkin Sport Armband. Here’s some impressions after using it for a few days.
Posted in Reviews, iPhone | Comments »
May 19th, 2008
OS X has led the way in GPU powered user interfaces on desktops. Over the years Apple has introduced Quartz, Quartz Extreme and the Core Image, Video and Animation frameworks, all of which can take advantage of the video processor. Developers have been putting the new frameworks to good use in Leopard, making applications such as Times, Pixelmator, ScreenFlow, CoverSutra, Stationery Pack & Candybar 3 very visually appealing.
But despite this push to offload work to the video card, since switching to Intel processors, Apple has been shipping its lower end Macs with relatively mediocre Intel integrated video chipsets (first the GMA950 and now the X3100). Whilst these cards are more than capable of running a few simple animations here and there, as the use of Core services becomes increasingly prevalent in Apple and 3rd party apps you can’t help but feel that the graphics card is quickly becoming a bottleneck.
Posted in Mac, Opinions | Comments »
May 16th, 2008
Let me start off by making a qualifying statement:
Because I worked for a large german Apple retailer for a few years, I’ve owned nearly every iPod Apple made, starting with a 10GB 2nd Gen I bought myself all the way through to the 30GB iPod video (no, I’m not insane, most were work iPods we were given to demonstrate to customers. But we were allowed to keep them for private use as well).
So consider me a big fan of all the previous iPods.
But apart from the obvious new touch interface which is generally considered to be a huge leap forward, there are several practical improvements to the iPhone’s iPod that are less headline-grabbing, but make the device considerably more useable than its predecessors all the same.
Here are my top 5 subtle improvements that make the music listening experience on the iPhone better than on any iPod.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Opinions, iPhone, iPod | Comments »
May 14th, 2008
Yup - the dark side has got me - I’ve installed Windows Vista.
But don’t worry: it’s only replaced my somewhat older XP installation temporarily as part of an assignment for University. And luckily I didn’t need to purchase a license either - Microsoft allows students in my course to apply for free Academic licenses.
So that’s why I found myself installing Vista Business Edition this past weekend.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Opinions, UI Design | Comments »
May 5th, 2008
Earlier this week I mentioned Times, a new RSS reader for OS X that has been generating some buzz.
Written entirely by 19 yr old Dustin MacDonald it makes extensive use of the latest Leopard technologies for a truly unique but intuitive take on the feed reader concept.
Now that it’s out, here are a few notes after using it for the past 3 days.
Posted in Reviews | 1 Comment »
May 5th, 2008
(Note: This is a semi-followup to my original CLP-300 review so check that out if you’re looking for the full rundown…)
Google has been sending a few folks my way who are looking for CLP-300 colour settings, so I thought I’d share mine.
Note: I’m by no means an expert on colour accuracy and arrived at these settings through trial & error:
First I tested the printer with the default settings, which seemed to be a bit over-saturated. Several other sites I had read had mentioned reducing the colour levels slightly.
Posted in Hints, Reviews | Comments »
May 2nd, 2008
Dustin MacDonald has given users a first gli
mpse of his new RSS reader “Times” on his blog.
Unlike other RSS readers that use an interface similar to a desktop email client, Times promises a new interface that looks reminiscient of a traditional newspaper.
The standout - and probably most controversial feature - is Times’ abillity to follow links within a RSS feed to retrieve the actual content of a story from a webpage, strip the advertising and formatting from the webpage and display it alongside other feeds. However MacDonald also states that this feature is mainly targeted at larger news sites that tend to only include one paragraph teaser in their feed.
All in all this looks like a very welcome fresh approach in the crowded category of RSS readers and will surely be an Apple Design Award contender (Times will be released this coming Friday, the deadline for ADA submissions is May 12th - so expect to see a few more announcements this week…)
Posted in JetLinks, Mac | Comments »
