The Man from Apple Says…

Just read a funny story that I really hope is true and so I thought I’d share it with you.

Over the weekend, Apple have been keeping a close eye on all of the iPad 2 returns they’re receiving in. Most are the usual ‘change of mind’ but Apple want to keep an eye out for any patterns or manufacturing faults so they can quash them before they get worse.

One iPad was returned with a simple post-it on the box clearly stating the reason for return…

Wife says no. I think that speaks volumes and I reckon a lot of iPad’s were returned for the very same reason!

The tale was passed around Apple internally, all as a bit of a joke and a chuckle. However, it escalated a little higher than originally thought and when two of Apple’s VP’s caught wind of this. They swiftly moved into action.

They sent the guy an iPad 2 with a post-it attached…

The man from Apple, he most certainly say yes.

Feb 21 2011

Apple, Rumours Galore!

So there are a LOT of Apple rumours flying around the interwebs at the moment and just in case you’re getting bored or you’re lost in the sea of various rumours, patents and rumblings. Here’s a round up of what you need to know.

MacBook Pro

A MacBook Pro refresh is imminent and I know of at least one person who’ll be gutted if the rumours are true and we see an updated product line being released next Thursday. I for one think it will happen but it will be a simple hardware refresh. Nothing too new or different, I think new processors and various bumps to make the machines that little bit quicker and better.

Apple have also been working on new batteries and more importantly new ways to hold charge and to improve battery life. Apple have been jumping forwards in leaps and bounds when it comes to laptop batteries and the more they tweak their own design, the more life we get out of our portable gadgets!

iPad 2

Yada, yada, retina display, new ports and smaller screens. All the rumours for iPad 2/3 are the same ol’ same ol’ and really. Even if a new model comes out soon, I don’t think we’ll be seeing too much of a re-design. One new patent Apple have been granted has piqued my interest though.

A ‘Smart Bezel’ could mean the first tablet without any buttons. An iPad without a home button? What gives… Well Apple have designed a way to use the bezel surrounding the screen to include touch sensors, light emitters, pressure sensors and accelerometers. So you can control apps, and navigate your way to the homescreen by touching or squeezing the iPad’s frame.

The jury is out, so let’s see if anything comes of it.

iPhone 4.5 / 5

Everyone is expecting a new iPhone to be released later this year but what have we got instore for the iPhone 5?

Well first, let’s talk about the most recent rumours. The iPhone Nano.

Some rumours say that it will be physically smaller (literally like an iPhone Nano) but I think everyone is reading it wrong… Think more of a virtually smaller device. Similar to the New Apple TV, minimal storage and easy to use. I don’t know if this will come out in the interim before we get a whole new iPhone but it may be something released alongside the iPhone 5.

An iPhone 4 design handset, however with only 8GB of storage. Apple will start to push users towards cloud storage and streaming capabilities. The iPhone ‘Nano’ (let’s just call it that just because it’s easy!) will be aimed towards those who are tempted with the iPhone but still consider it too expensive or complicated.

Then in addition to this ‘lite’ version, a full blown iPhone 5 will be released. Again, there are rumours of a larger screen size or iPhones which include an RFID chip and various other new tech which Apple would introduce to it’s userbase.

So lots of rumours, but that’s all they are. Rumours. So enjoy what you’ve got and look forward to what’s new!

Jun 7 2010

WWDC 2010

There’s only hours to go until Steve Jobs takes to the stage at this year’s WWDC in San Francisco.

As usual, there are a lot of rumours and a lot of mystery about what is going to be announced. I’m only certain on a few things, and a lot I’m pretty sure about. The rest, well, the rest are things that ‘would be nice’.

iPhone

First up is what everyone’s been waiting for… A new iPhone. A lot of people have been calling this ‘iPhone 4G’ – Well that certainly isn’t going to happen. Firstly, all networks internationally are yet to agree on what ’4G’ actually is! Sprint (USA) currently have a partial 4G network, but AT&T don’t and the iPhone is still exclusive to AT&T in the US. There currently isn’t a 4G network provider in the UK!

You could call it the G4 as it’s the fourth generation of the iPhone, but I’m pretty certain it’s going to be named iPhone HD - It’s a hunch, but the spec of the screen and camera (for 720p HD recording) indicates this is the way Apple are going.

We’ve all seen the leaks from Gizmodo (who subsequently are actually banned from this year’s WWDC) so I’m not going to bore with repeating the spec but I’m excited about this! I’m certain they’re not gonna release the iPhone tomorrow. So certain that I haven’t started getting my iPhone ready to sell! I expect the iPhone HD to be released on June 22nd but any delays in manufacturing the thing could push it back to late July.

iPhone OS 4.0

Don’t expect to be getting a software update any time tomorrow. The Golden Master version of the beta hasn’t been released to developers (me) yet and this is what will be announced tomorrow. The fourth beta has come in leaps and bounds in stability, and I never have a crash on my iPhone. This final beta will be released to developers tomorrow (so everyone can get their apps ready) and then the 4.0 update will be released when the iPhone HD is out.

Safari 5

Safari 5 is going to be showing it’s face too. With fast loading times, pre-DNS fetching, smarter address bar, ‘private mode’ icon and a new ‘Reader’ mode which is kinda like Readability. I was hoping for the official release of ‘extensions’ as well, but apparantly that’s not gonna happen.

Apple TV

There’s also a fair bit of murmour surrounding Apple’s ‘hobby’ Apple TV. Now I’ve been an Apple TV user for a few years now and I still regularly use it. It’s a shame it can’t do more as I don’t buy that many Movies or TV Episodes from iTunes any more. It’s great as a remote speaker to my iTunes library on my MacBook and watching podcasts is great, but that’s about it.

There’s rumours that it’ll be a new device, running a similar getup as the iPhone OS. Or just an app on the iPhone HD and iPad. Who knows? I hope it’s not a new device, as I like the look of mine and don’t wanna see it go to waste.

MobileMe

Finally, there’s MobileMe. Apple’s premium service which gives you email, calendar, contacts, ‘Find My iPhone’ and a few other features that you can find elsewhere totally free. I let my membership expire a long time ago and the rumour is, it’s gonna be free. There could also be a tier-based membership system which gives more features or access if you pay a small fee.

Will Steve have ‘one more thing’ for us at this morning’s keynote? Or will we just get sales updates and iPhone talk? I’d be happy with just that, it seems that Apple are focusing on their biggest selling devices right now. Mac’s sales aren’t slumping, they just ain’t as high as iPhone OS devices.

Jun 7 2010

MacBook Woes

The day I got my iPad, I rushed home to get playing. First thing’s first though, I needed to sync it. So I setup my MacBook with the iPad Dock and started to sync.

I started to notice the screen flickering, it was changing brightness just like when you start to charge the battery. The LED on the Mag-Safe connector was flickering too. Green, amber then green again just like it was trying to charge but failing every time.

It was a race to sync my iPad! The battery was draining as iTunes chucked everything it could onto the iPad and it didn’t help that the iPad was trying to charge from my MacBook! It can’t, so I don’t know why it tried but it certainly made a difference to the battery comsumption. After just over an hour the sync had finished, although I had to forego all my photos as they were taking way too long.

I ran the usual diagnostics, resetting the PRAM, NVRAM and the SMC with all not making any difference whatsoever. I took the battery out for a while and left the MacBook shut down (well I had no choice!) and after 30 minutes, I gave it a try. It was charging!

Not for long though, day in day out the adapter was being temperamental. I couldn’t figure out if it was the battery or if it was the adapter. There was only one thing for it, I had to make an appointment to see a Genius.

In typical computer fashion, the fault didn’t re-occur at the Genius Bar. I opened every app on my dock, started syncing with my iPhone and the iTunes store was downloading some podcasts and the adapter was charging the battery without a problem! Until the Genius started playing with the wiring and BOOM! It started to flicker again.

£49 and a new MagSafe adapter later, my MacBook charges fine! I like the new design too. It feels a lot more secure when charging now. Phew! After spending so much on my iPad, I couldn’t handle my MacBook dying… I guess that shows that the iPad isn’t here to replace a Mac anytime soon.