iPhone 2 Speculation

Things seem to be heating up concerning Apple’s release of the iPhone hardware version 2. Many Mac websites are reporting shortages of the existing phones and, most recently, the Apple online store reports the current version of the iPhone as “unavailable”.

Now this could mean the iPhone 2.0 is imminent. It could also just mean they need to restock. Either way I don’t think you can really call the existence of an iPhone 2.0 product a secret. Apple is always pushing forward on its product line and there should be no more doubt about a new generation iPhone than a new generation MacBook or iPod. The question (and secret) is, however, its features. I think 3G is a given. Well, actually, it appears to have been promised by AT&T as well as referenced in this last spurt of new carrier contracts all over the world. As to other features, your guess is as good as mine. I have no idea but I do have an opinion:
1. Better Camera, please.
I’d like to see some improvement on the camera. Maybe a better lens and software that allows me to control exposure. Currently I find it difficult to take good pictures with the phone.
2. GPS? … Eh.
I have a Garmin NUVI in my car that gets me anywhere I need to go. I don’t see the iPhone replacing it even with a GPS system. It would be nice to have GPS on board but certainly not critical. I’m also curious to see what effect that would have on the battery.
3. Faster Processor Speed
Even if we had 3G, the iPhone still can be slow loading web pages. John Gruber did a post on this and he is right. The iPhone takes about 15 seconds to load a page even on wifi. A faster processor would fix this.
4. More memory .. a given.
With the application store going live next month. Our 8 gig iPhones are going to start feeling very small. I expect a 32 gig model before long.
5. Bluetooth Keyboard Support
My own personal crusade. I had to say it.
I’ve only touched upon the obvious points. What may even be more interesting are the new features that are not on this list. Time will tell. So am I upgrading you ask? Eventually, but probably not* right away. My daughter’s contract with Verizon ends next February so I’ll most likely wait until then to make any moves.
* I’ve learned not to categorically state I will not be buying any Apple products. It just never seems to work out.

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LED Love and the New MacBook Pro

So I’ve written about the issues that led to AppleCare replacing my MacBook Pro. I’m finally getting time to set it up and I couldn’t help from stopping to wax poetic about the LED screen. I knew it was special when I saw it on the MacBook Air, but on the MacBook Pro, the LED just looks fantastic. The resolution is higher than the standard screen. On the 17″ MacBook Pro it is 1920 x 1200 and noticeably sharper. Further, with the LED screen the whites are whiter and the color more vivid. So the next time you are looking to upgrade your laptop, take a long hard look at the new screens.

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MacSparky Update

Thank you to all readers writing in and asking what has happened to their daily dose of MacSparky blogging goodness the last few days. I’d like to tell you I’ve been quiet because I’ve been busy perfecting the cure for cancer but, alas, I’m just swamped with work from the day job. In fact, I’m so busy that my brand new MacBook Pro (courtesy of AppleCare) is sitting in the corner looking at its new owner rather dubiously for who could ignore such a pretty new computer.
Things should be coming around later this week and definitely by the weekend although I’ll have to take a pass on this week’s Surfbits podcast. The good news is the review I am currently working on is ScreenFlow and hopefully I’ll be able to put up a new screencast once I get the new machine configured.
Thanks for your patience and stay tuned.

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Checking in with the MacBook Air

So as I’ve been working with the Apple gang to sort out the troubles with my MacBook Pro, I’ve had the opportunity to spend a lot of time behind the MacBook Air and I thought I would check back on my impressions after using it a few months.
To begin with, the underlying assumptions of my original review haven’t changed. It still is very light and thin and the slowest Mac laptop in the Apple lineup. It also still fits in every bag I use and effortlessly goes with me just about anywhere.
I’ve found myself pulling it out in restaurants, court, meetings, coffee shops, and just about everywhere else I get stuck for more than ten minutes. I find it extremely useful for dealing with just about everything I do in my job (word processing, email, Omni applications, and keynote). It is also very handy for the blog. It could do Aperture and Photoshop but I haven’t used it much for that purpose. Likewise I’ve not even bothered trying to use it for screencasting. Logic isn’t installed but I have recorded Midi files into Garage Band and later transferred them over to the MacBook Pro. It can drive an external 22″ monitor with no trouble but struggles when I hook up an eyeTV. I’ve recorded several reviews on it and audio recording is just fine.
The drive space hasn’t been a problem. I sync my files with the MacBook Pro using SugarSync and have had very few hiccups. I don’t keep the Aperture library on the Air and the iTunes library is a very condensed version of my library with 4 gigs of my absolute favorites. Since I normally listen to music through my iPhone anyway, I’m toying with the idea of taking most of the music off it but since space is not currently a problem (still 31 gigs free) I probably will leave things as they are.
The battery has never lasted five hours but I have got over four hours out of it with Airport and Bluetooth off. With all the bells and whistles running I usually get slightly more than 3 hours.
The LED screen is gorgeous. I didn’t think there would be that much difference between the technologies but there is. This is especially true for white and light colors. Do your own comparison next time you are in an Apple Store and see for yourself. I like it so much that I’ve ordered it on my replacement MacBook Pro.
I still get a lot of comments on it. The most interesting comments are from those people who go out of their way to tell me what a bad computer it is. “Dude, my Dell could run circles around that piece of junk” The funny thing is they usually end up asking permission to hold it and look over my shoulder as I use it. It is baffling how much they want to get their hands on “the piece of junk.”
For a Mac user on the run, I think it is an outstanding machine. It probably is overpriced but that will likely change in the future. Put simply, the honeymoon is not over.

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BBEdit Review

BBEdit is the 800 pound gorillla of text editors. People have switched to the Mac just to run this program. So what is so special about BBEdit? I’d have to say the answer is a combination of utility and pedigree.
BBEdit goes back System 6. This application is not a word processor but a text editor. While you could write a novel in BBEdit, it is more suited to prepare the web site promoting your novel or, better yet, the video game based on your novel. Put simply, this application is the equivalent of a super powered nail-gun in the tool belt of all code jockies.
BBEdit supports just about every software and internet development language you can think of. Using version 8.7 it support most, if not all, of the major languages including Objective C, Perl and Java just to name a few. Better yet, its plug-in architecture allows the creation of custom modules to support any language.
Getting back to its pedigree, BBEdit is a very mature application. The current version 8.7 has years of improvements and tweaks. Many of the innovations are obvious like code folding using Apple’s familiar disclosure triangles. Just as impressive as the big features however are the little ones that don’t show themselves right away. For instance, when you close BBEdit and then re-open it later, it remembers where you were when you left off and opens the same files in the same places. It even mounts FTP automatically. Additionally, BBEdit allows you to search and work on multiple files at a time and can handle enormous files sizes.
It tracks and allows the merging of changes in a way that is both smart and intuitive for programming. It also has a robust version control system.
One nice feature is the ability to turn down the down feature support. You can actually turn off language specific features for modules you don’t plan to use. BBEdit also includes a variety of Automator actions and Applescript support.
Having gone full circle with this application I began playing with it as a text editor and not a programming tool. Indeed, I wrote this review in BBEdit. It has some very powerful features when used in this capacity. I could particularly see using it when putting together forms with repetitive text strings. For everyday word processing however, I’m still using my concoction of Scrivener, Word, and Pages.
BBEdit actually has registered its logo phrase, “It doesn’t suck” and indeed is does not. I have to admit I was a little intimidated about reviewing BareBones BBEdit. Some people make their living in BBEdit and work in it every day. I thought, however, as a new user it would be interesting to see how easy it was to find these powerful features. Bare Bones did an impressive job of making these very deep features accessible to new users. That is no easy feat.
An individual license for BBEdit license runs $125. If you spend any amount of time in software development or web coding, you owe it to yourself to head over to Bare Bones Software and take a hard look at this application.

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Keynote Free Stuff

My friend and MacSparky reader Marie pointed me to Jumsoft’s free “Jam” download of Keynote 3d images. Several of them are useful for presentation work and definitely worth the download. Check it out. As a little Keynote tip, I actually keep a separate folder called “Keynote Source Documents” where I have slides and presentation with re-usable resources. If you haven’t done something like this yourself, this is the perfect place to start.

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Creative Withdrawal

Between the slow death of my MacBook Pro and waiting for the new one to show up, I’ve been without a “fun” machine now for about a month. It is the computer equivalent of the doldrums. This combined with an overdose of dragon slaying at the day job has left MacSparky, as of late, a very dull boy. I have to admit it is dragging me down a bit. I miss playing with all the great creative stuff and plunking away in Logic. The loss of the MacBook Pro has also put the screencast production schedule on hiatus. I’m crossing my fingers that the new one will show up tomorrow. It would be really nice to get it set up over the weekend. Stay tuned.

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Psystar … I Don’t Care!

Things have been a little crazy lately in the day job so I’ve not had much time to keep up on Mac news. Tonight I decided to take catch up with my RSS feed and was surprised to see so many posts and articles concerning Psystar’s Apple clones. Apparently a few of them are in the wild and everyone seems very excited about it. I must admit, I’m baffled.
So it is great that folks have gone commercial with the hackintosh concept but I can’t understand why anyone would want to buy one. They may be slightly cheaper but then again, they may also just turn into a brick with the next software update. Furthermore, they really aren’t that much cheaper. I remember back to 1987 when getting a new Mac and printer would run you about four thousand dollars minimum. Back then a hackintosh would have had a toehold. But these days Apple’s prices are not that bad. On the low end, a Mac Mini is very affordable. On the other end there really isn’t that much difference (either in hardware or price) between a MacBook Pro and a Dell XPS which can cost up to $4300.
Call me a fan boy but I’m sticking with Apple hardware. I’ve got 20 years of trench warfare experience on the PC side fighting hardware, software, and operating systems made by different people with no intention of cooperating. To the arguable extent you are paying a premium for Apple products, you get it back in saved time almost immediately. With Apple’s current pricing, I will be very surprised if any of these commercial clones get any traction.

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Review iWeb Buddy

When it comes to web development, I’m hardly a power user and I’ve found iWeb to be just fine for most of the web based projects I’m involved with. That being said, there are a few features I do miss in iWeb 08. Zarra Studios comes to the rescue with its $25 add-on for iWeb called iWeb Buddy. Put simply, iWeb Buddy picks up the slack for iWeb.
First, it allows you to manage multiple domains. While iWeb natively supports multiple sites, it does not allow you to separate these sites into multiple domains. iWeb Buddy makes it easy to manage my family site (which publishes through .mac) and some other business sites that are published elsewhere.
Another shortcoming in iWeb is web statistics. Using iWeb Buddy you can enable statistics tracking such as Google Analytics or Mint. iWeb Buddy puts the necessary scripts in and gives you access to all of those great statistics so you can figure out exactly how many people from all over the world are reading your site. As an aside, macsparky.com is huge in Fiji. Go figure.
iWeb Buddy also gives a boost to RSS support. It allows you to get that RSS button off the top of the page and place it where your readers are more likely to notice it and it also allows you to tie your feed into statistical tracking services, like Feed Burner. Finally, you can make your iWeb site friendly to social bookmarking services such as Digg and del.icio.us. You simply click a preference and iWeb Buddy does the rest.
iWeb Buddy is designed around iLife 08 and a license will cost $25. I know some of the functions in iWeb Buddy can be found in other applications. A few of them are even free. However, the benefit of iWeb Buddy is in the combination of these tools all in one place and ease of application. If you are looking to upgrade your iWeb site, iWeb Buddy should scratch the itch. You can find it at zarrastudios.com.

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Two Words: Buy AppleCare

About six years ago, before there was such a thing as a “Geek Squad”, I had an extended warranty on an HP computer I bought at a big box retailer. The sound card started failing so I turned it in. It took me three months and the exhaustion of my entire collection of colorful epitaphs to get it back and and it was still broken. I finally fixed it myself and swore never to buy another extended warranty in my lifetime.
Well times change and if you have a lick of common sense, you eventually find yourself replacing your PC with a new Mac and (if you are like me) you probably get intoxicated by all the Apple Store karma and go ahead and purchase AppleCare despite the fact a not so small part of you is screaming “No, No, No … for the love of Pete No!”
Well fast forward to the last few months and Apple was finally presented with an opportunity to prove the value of AppleCare or validate my more cynical side. I’ve been dealing with a recurring problem with my USB port on my MacBook Pro. It just seems to have a mind of its own and with increasing frequency has been kicking off printers and USB drives. Most notably it garbles up recorded audio which can be extremely frustrating. As a result, it has been in and out of the Apple store several times.
During this period the Apple Genius gang has replaced the logic board (twice) the i/o board as well as a few other parts. I think they even put in fresh cheese for that little mouse on the wheel. To rule out software being the cause, I even did a complete rebuild of the hard drive.
Despite all these valiant efforts, the USB port still keeps on failing. This morning the Irvine Store Genius crew officially declared it a lost cause. For the first time in many years, I felt bad about the death of my computer. With my PCs it usually felt like a relief when the computer finally died. Almost like it had been put out of its misery and was now in a better place where there were no such things as autoexec.bat files and viruses. With my MacBook Pro, I felt like Elliott as they were wheeling in the crash cart on E.T. and declaring him dead. That MacBook Pro represented my return to the fold. It marked the end of my PC purgatory.
Of course, on the other hand this means AppleCare is springing to give me a new MacBook Pro. The new machine is faster than the old machine in just about every way. I went ahead and paid for an upgraded screen and processor, (the LED on the MacBook Air has spoiled me forever) so it will be a week until I have the new machine. It is a good thing I seem to have the setup process figured out.
Getting to the point of this post (there is a point) I must say that AppleCare is a “must buy.” The Apple folks really tried hard to fix my machine and you could tell how frustrated they were that their fixes were not sticking. You hear so many bad stories about computer tech guys. I found the complete opposite to be true at the Irvine Apple Store. Those guys were working hard on the problem and calling me regularly with status updates. They understood how much I rely on my computer and acted accordingly. You really couldn’t ask for better customer service.

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