Mac
Really interesting short video from Wired, showing off some user interface designs for iPad-centric content. While the demos appear to be running on Adobe Air (as in, not capable of running on the iPad), the concept is powerful and compelling. The sound bite of the video:
"We also think it's an opportunity to reset the economics. For the first time people may value this experience so much that they'll pay for it."
Wow, isn't that what creating a product is all about? Hope the music, movie, and even traditional print industries are taking note, because Wired has figured it out.
Yesterday I ventured to get Windows 7 running on my Mac Mini and naturally ran into quite a few problems (quite unlike installing XP). Unfortunately, I could not get the x64 version of Boot Camp 3.1 installed; it would try to install the nVidia driver and then silently fail thereafter. I also ran into the road block of not being able to install the x64 version of Boot Camp 3.0 from the Snow Leopard installation media, but found a work around. You will need the following items:
Snow Leopard installation disc
Boot Camp 3.1...
Today Google announced free navigation for the new version of its mobile software, Android 2.0. Seems like a pretty innocuous announcement until you consider who the players are in the market. TomTom and Garmin are two of the biggest players in the hand held consumer GPS market, so it came as no surprise that their business model might take a hit. Consider today's stock graph following the accouncement:
Ouch! It doesn't take a stock analyst to point out that anyone in the handheld GPS market is going to have an interesting time staying relevant in a marketplace where a once valued...
Today was pretty exciting as far as Apple news goes with the announcement of the release of Mac OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard', new MacBooks, MacBook Air price reductions, iPhone OS 3.0, and yes, the iPhone 3GS. Most rumors actually turned out to be correct, such as MMS, a 3 megapixel auto-focus camera, tethering, magnometer, and video recording. Some that didn't pan out were the new matte finish (instead of a glossy back), but the most happed for, but more far-fetched non-event was the forward facing video lens. Others that I didn't find anywhere on the rumor sites included the...
Windows 7's release is on the horizon with the debut of its first release candidate this week, but even more troubling than the repeat of the myriad versions that we'll have to sort through, most people won't be able to take advantage of the new 'XP Mode'. XP Mode allows a user to run a concurrent virtual instance on Windows XP while using Windows 7. The idea is to ease the transition of users who still need to run certain applications that are not compatible with Windows Vista or 7. That's all fine and dandy, of course, except a few...
As I had mentioned in my previous posts, the biggest barrier to purchasing a Mac had been price. For the hardware that you get it seems awfully expensive when you match that up to a comparably equipped PC. One of the benefits of a Mini, however, are its ultra-compact size, energy efficiencies, and more importantly how quiet it is. I have a 9800GTX+ in my PC and the box sounds like a wind tunnel with all the fans that are in it to keep it cool.
But does it have any guts? I got the lower end model at $599, and...
Last week I posted about picking up a Mac Mini for dev work. After a week of use (I only powered up my PC to play TF2 last night), I've come away with a better feel for the Mac Experience.
As much as the Apple Fanboys tout OS X's intuitiveness, I have to say that Macs would be easier to use if they were my first computer. That might sound strange, even derogatory, but there are a lot of things that don't translate well when coming from a Windows-centric view. Like I had mentioned last week, the whole deal with...
Yesterday I made the leap. I had been pondering making the jump to a Mac ever since the Mac Mini made its debut a few years ago, but it hasn't been until the iPhone came out that I started seriously looking into it. The Mac's increased popularity and market share haven't hurt either, but it's viability as a development platform has certainly increased because of the appeal for iPhone apps.
The barrier to entry has always been price. The Mac Mini was a tempting diminutive box to get, but its hardware was dated and it wasn't getting the regular hardware refreshes...