I can't wait to see what the Geniuses at Cupertino have up their sleeve for us. I've been looking at the MacBook Pro laptops for use with digital photography, but have delayed the purchase pending the new ones to come out today. Both Mac Rumors and AppleInsider are rampant with "leaked" photos of the aluminum laptop cases, and speculation as to what ports will be available on each model. There are also guesses as to the various price points. It's funny, with only a few hours before Apple's presentation, people are racing to guess what will be unveiled!
Apple has done a good job keeping the announcements mysterious, letting the fans whip themselves into a frenzy, waiting for the next big thing! Well, I hope Apple doesn't disappoint! Click here to follow along this morning!
Update: Post Announcement
Well, the improved graphics on the MacBook Pro looks impressive (2.3 X faster graphics processing when using discrete NVIDIA 9600M GT processor), but I'm wondering if the glossy display will work best for digital photography. Some feel that the colors are saturated, and are not a good representation of the photo. Others claim that the glossy display is the only way to go. Photographers, Graphic Artists... anyone have an opinion? Post a comment!
Update
The glossy screen scares me. I ordered the previous version MacBook Pro 15", 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 200GB HD on sale from MacMall for $1449 (after $150 mail in rebate) and upgraded the RAM to 4 GB with memory from Crucial. So far so good! My wife commented the other night on how beautiful the screen is! I know, the new version is supposed to have greatly improved graphics, and a unibody carved from a 5 lb block of aluminum... but I just can't get over the glossy screen! And saving $550 didn't hurt either!!
Anyone get the new one? What do you think of it so far?
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
3G iPhone Review... anyone have any killer apps downloaded?
Well, the Mrs said to me on July 12 "want to get an iPhone?" I yelled "YES!" on my way out the door, headed to the Apple Store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Never mind that we had a sitter, and were supposed to go out and celebrate our anniversary! She is the nicest wife ever, by the way. Now last year, her and I just happened to be on Michigan Avenue walking around the day after the first generation iPhone went on sale. I had a neighbor that waited all day to get his, so I surprised to find out that they were not out of them, and anyone could buy one without any line. I guess at $599, the market thins out quickly.
No such luck on July 12; I waited 3 hours and 20 minutes before being helped by a helpful and friendly fellow at the Genius Bar. While waiting in line, we all had plenty to talk about. I met a nice woman named Mabeline, and a student in town for an internship (I'm so bad with names, I swear I forgot his name the second he told me). The one thing I can't figure out to this day is why everyone thought the phone was so much cheaper. When adding back in the extra $10 per month AT&T charges for the data plan, the total cost of ownership is actually more! I guess people feel the immediate pain of the cost of the phone, and rationalize the later stream of payments for the service plan.
So I love the phone! I think Hunter said it best:
If you need a phone, get a Nokia.
If you need a laptop, get a Dell.
If you need road-warrior-level email, get a BlackBerry.
If you need a portable entertainment device get a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS.
If you need directions, get a Garmin.
If you need an MP3 player, get ... well, get an iPod Touch.
If you need all of these, get an iPhone. It does none of above perfectly. It does all of the above sufficiently well to deserve its hype and status. I paid full price last August, and was thrilled. When the 2.0 software came out, I went from "thrilled" to "smitten." I honestly don't think I could go back to anything else.
The only thing I might change is for the laptop, get a MacBook Pro! I recently got the Garmin 60CSx, and it is a much more powerful GPS tool. And until now, I've always bought Nokia cell phones: they just work!
I never had the first generation iPhone to compare to, but I do feel that if you use the Safari browser, the GPS, or any app utilizing the web for any length of time, your battery drains fairly quickly. My Palm TX has the same issue when using the Wi-Fi browser for any length of time.
Since getting the phone, I've been downloading lots of apps from the App Store. I looked today, and I've got 75 on my phone!
Here are some of my favorites: NYTimes Reader - very nice reader for New York Times articles (the paper of reckoning-according to the movie Quiz Show). Free
MLB.com At Bat - Great for checking up on your team (brings your team to the top of all games for the day). And you can watch cool video clips of big plays of the game. The quality is very nice if you have Wi-Fi connectivity, but wish it were as good over 3G. Couldn't they just let you wait a little longer for the file to load? $4.99
AOL Radio and Tuner - AOL Radio finds radio stations across the country. However I found out that if you want to tune into a baseball game on the local AM station, there must be some sort of backout agreement. Both times I tried, the station was playing another program other than the baseball game, even though if you grabbed an AM radio you would have caught the game. Tuner, by Nullriver, Inc, is an application that allows you to play internet radio stations through your iPhone. It has over 500 stations, and if you know of one that's not listed, enter the URL and add it! I downloaded it today, hooked it up to my desk speakers, and streamed classical music for hours! But it seemed to drain the battery faster than it could charge using the AC plug. Not sure if anyone else has experienced this issue. Maybe it wasn't tested to run all day?
AOL Radio - Free, Tuner - $5.99
Things - A GTD (Getting Things Done) type of organizer. Their latest upgrade is supposed to sync your tasks with your desktop. I haven't tested this yet. I like having all my To Dos in one place, and this app lets you schedule tasks and create projects. It's a little expensive relative to other apps, but if it can increase your productivity, I figure it's well worth 10 bucks! $9.99
My Lists - A nice little program for keeping all sorts of lists: grocery, movies, music, books, To Do, etc. You can assign a little icon to each list, and even email the list! Nice to have this all in one place! $1.99
Moonlight Mahjong Lite - An addictive 3D puzzle game that involves removing pairs of tiles. You can move the board, spin in 3 dimensions, zoom in and out. My favorite game downloaded so far! Free!
Shazam - I don't know how it works, but start it up and hold it next to the radio. It will sample the music, and 5 or 10 seconds later tell you the song, artist and album. I've tried it a few times and it works! Free
midomi - Similar to Shazam, but you sing or hum a song. I've tried this out and it figured out my rendition of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water! Free
Hey, what are your favorite apps? Do you have any killer apps you think everyone should have? Send a comment and let us know! I'm sure people would be interested to hear about your experiences.
Update
Facebook - An iPhone tailored interface to your Facebook page, it makes keeping in contact with your friends so easy! If you have a Facebook page, you need to try this one. I think you'll like it! Free
No such luck on July 12; I waited 3 hours and 20 minutes before being helped by a helpful and friendly fellow at the Genius Bar. While waiting in line, we all had plenty to talk about. I met a nice woman named Mabeline, and a student in town for an internship (I'm so bad with names, I swear I forgot his name the second he told me). The one thing I can't figure out to this day is why everyone thought the phone was so much cheaper. When adding back in the extra $10 per month AT&T charges for the data plan, the total cost of ownership is actually more! I guess people feel the immediate pain of the cost of the phone, and rationalize the later stream of payments for the service plan.
So I love the phone! I think Hunter said it best:
If you need a phone, get a Nokia.
If you need a laptop, get a Dell.
If you need road-warrior-level email, get a BlackBerry.
If you need a portable entertainment device get a Sony PSP or Nintendo DS.
If you need directions, get a Garmin.
If you need an MP3 player, get ... well, get an iPod Touch.
If you need all of these, get an iPhone. It does none of above perfectly. It does all of the above sufficiently well to deserve its hype and status. I paid full price last August, and was thrilled. When the 2.0 software came out, I went from "thrilled" to "smitten." I honestly don't think I could go back to anything else.
The only thing I might change is for the laptop, get a MacBook Pro! I recently got the Garmin 60CSx, and it is a much more powerful GPS tool. And until now, I've always bought Nokia cell phones: they just work!
I never had the first generation iPhone to compare to, but I do feel that if you use the Safari browser, the GPS, or any app utilizing the web for any length of time, your battery drains fairly quickly. My Palm TX has the same issue when using the Wi-Fi browser for any length of time.
Since getting the phone, I've been downloading lots of apps from the App Store. I looked today, and I've got 75 on my phone!
Here are some of my favorites: NYTimes Reader - very nice reader for New York Times articles (the paper of reckoning-according to the movie Quiz Show). Free
MLB.com At Bat - Great for checking up on your team (brings your team to the top of all games for the day). And you can watch cool video clips of big plays of the game. The quality is very nice if you have Wi-Fi connectivity, but wish it were as good over 3G. Couldn't they just let you wait a little longer for the file to load? $4.99
AOL Radio and Tuner - AOL Radio finds radio stations across the country. However I found out that if you want to tune into a baseball game on the local AM station, there must be some sort of backout agreement. Both times I tried, the station was playing another program other than the baseball game, even though if you grabbed an AM radio you would have caught the game. Tuner, by Nullriver, Inc, is an application that allows you to play internet radio stations through your iPhone. It has over 500 stations, and if you know of one that's not listed, enter the URL and add it! I downloaded it today, hooked it up to my desk speakers, and streamed classical music for hours! But it seemed to drain the battery faster than it could charge using the AC plug. Not sure if anyone else has experienced this issue. Maybe it wasn't tested to run all day?
AOL Radio - Free, Tuner - $5.99
Things - A GTD (Getting Things Done) type of organizer. Their latest upgrade is supposed to sync your tasks with your desktop. I haven't tested this yet. I like having all my To Dos in one place, and this app lets you schedule tasks and create projects. It's a little expensive relative to other apps, but if it can increase your productivity, I figure it's well worth 10 bucks! $9.99
My Lists - A nice little program for keeping all sorts of lists: grocery, movies, music, books, To Do, etc. You can assign a little icon to each list, and even email the list! Nice to have this all in one place! $1.99
Moonlight Mahjong Lite - An addictive 3D puzzle game that involves removing pairs of tiles. You can move the board, spin in 3 dimensions, zoom in and out. My favorite game downloaded so far! Free!
Shazam - I don't know how it works, but start it up and hold it next to the radio. It will sample the music, and 5 or 10 seconds later tell you the song, artist and album. I've tried it a few times and it works! Free
midomi - Similar to Shazam, but you sing or hum a song. I've tried this out and it figured out my rendition of Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water! Free
Hey, what are your favorite apps? Do you have any killer apps you think everyone should have? Send a comment and let us know! I'm sure people would be interested to hear about your experiences.
Update
Facebook - An iPhone tailored interface to your Facebook page, it makes keeping in contact with your friends so easy! If you have a Facebook page, you need to try this one. I think you'll like it! Free
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