Today Apple officially announced the iPad, the Apple version of a tablet PC. It’s basically a giant iPod Touch and fits somewhere between the iPhone / iPod Touch and the MacBook. I’m happy to see the device finally become a reality, but there are some things I wasn’t happy about. Will I get one? I don’t know… I do think my wife would really like it, especially with the camera adapter to allow her to import photos to the device. She’s been wanting a computer of some type for a while now… I had considered a Netbook, but with as much as she uses her iPhone, I think she’d like this better. It’ll really depend on our hands on impression once the device actually shows up at the Apple Retail stores. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Apple’
iPad: The Apple Tablet Has Arrived
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Things I Want to See in the iPhone 4.0 OS
Monday, January 25th, 2010The iPhone is a great little device, but there is room for improvement. Hopefully with Apple’s big event on Wednesday we’ll see an announcement about the iPhone 4.0 OS. TUAW has put togther a set of things (part 1, part 2, part 3) they’d like to see based on user submission, and there are a lot of great ideas. I’ve got a few of my own ideas that I’d like to see as well. (more…)
Apple Predictions for 2010
Monday, January 4th, 2010Everyone else is doing their 2009 and 2010 lists, so I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon. Here is my list of Apple predictions for 2010. (more…)
It’s a kinda magic…
Thursday, October 29th, 2009So, here I am with my new Apple Magic Mouse, which replaced my wired Mighty Mouse (now just called Apple Mouse). It’s certainly different, especially if you consider my pre-Apple time was usually spent with a Razer Diamondback mouse that had 7 buttons. As with any product I’ve ever used, there are things I like and things I don’t like.
I had already been planning on picking up a new mouse when the Magic Mouse was announced. With no way to clean the Apple Mouse, specifically the little scroll ball, it was constantly aggravating me. I’d say it was the worst Apple designed product, but then Apple has never had much luck with their mice. The Magic Mouse is heavier than my Apple Mouse, though that’s mainly due to the two AA batteries that power it. The scrolling is very nice and very responsive.
I’ll miss the mouse-expose feature, which occurred when you squeezed the sides of the Apple Mouse. That was something I used often, and unless an update is released that adds some kind of expose gesture, I’ll have to get use to activating it via the keyboard. Speaking of gestures, that’s something that so far I’ve found highly misrepresented with the Magic Mouse. I have yet to successfully trigger the double finger swipe navigation in Safari or in iPhoto, and that’s really the only gesture offered.
Hopefully it’ll offer more function later via a software update, but right now I’m thrilled to have a scrollable mouse.
Apple Certified Associate (x2)
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009On Sunday night, I passed my 2nd Apple Certified Associate certification test. This one was for iWork 09. A few weeks ago, I passed the test for iLife 09.
While these certs aren’t a big deal, they did allow me to learn more about the Apple software, and I gained much bigger appreciation for iWork, which I had not used until I began studying for the test. iLife is a good suite as well, but I don’t see myself really using anything more than iPhoto and iMovie. (more…)
Apple Certified Support Professional 10.5
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009If you’ve spent any time reading through my blog or profiles at Twitter or Facebook, you’ll know that I’ve become quite fond of my Mac and OS X. On September 27, 2008 one day before OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” was released, and less than one year from when I first started using a Mac I obtained a Apple Certification. That’s right, I am now an Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.5. I’m also looking at becoming an Apple Certified Associate for both iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09, as well as following up my ACSP 10.5 with the 10.6 which should be available in a few months.
Where to after that? I’m planning on obtaining the CompTIA Linux+ and Network+, and at least one of the Microsoft SQL Server certifications. Obtaining all three of those will help save me about $6,000 if I go back to school, which is something I am looking into for next year. I am already a Microsoft Certified Professional for Windows 2000 Pro as well as a A+ Certified Technician. I would also like to continue my Apple certifications with the Apple Certified Coordinator, Apple Certified Technical Specialist, and Apple Certified Systems Administrator.
What does this mean for me? No, I don’t get any kind of discounts at the Apple Store (I wish!!). It just shows that I know a bit about OS X. It’ll help me should I apply for a job with Apple or at a company that uses Apple products. I learned quite a bit while studying, and will hopefully be able to help support someone. 
Who knows, maybe one day you’ll see OverclockersClub.com open a Apple related website.
One year with a Mac
Sunday, August 9th, 2009It’s funny, I use to be a “PC Guy” and hated console gaming and Mac. Now if you asked me, I’d consider myself a “Mac Guy” and 99% of the gaming I do is on a console. My, how times have changed.
A year ago next month, will be when I purchased my first Mac. It was intended as an experiment, me and some friends had delusions of grandeur and planned on making some iPhone apps. That hasn’t happened, not to say it will never, as there are a couple of apps that I’d like to see, but I’m not there yet.
Over the past year, my Windows rig (Vista, C2D @ 2.53 GHz, 2 GB RAM, ATI HD 4870 512) has been neglected, only turned on to run Quicken when I’m balancing the checkbook. Even that came to an end as I found something that fills my needs on the Mac. So, what software do I use? What Mac software replaced my Windows software? Let’s take a look. (more…)
Standing in line
Friday, June 19th, 2009Today was the release of the iPhone 3G S. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I stood in line for a good while out at the Apple Store in West Town Mall. While standing around and tweeting, I got a message from Victor @ TUAW. He just happened to standing in line right in front of me. I didn’t talk with him too much, but there were several other people that did, including a reporter for the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Here are some pics I snapped on my iPhone (1st gen):
TUAW has some more pics of the iPhone 3G S launch day, including coverage of Knoxville. Yeah, I wish they had put all the iPhone 3G S stuff in one post today. Oh well. 
I feel bad for not representing OverclockersClub.com at the event. I had just gotten out of bed 10 minuets before my friend picked me up, and I really wasn’t expecting there to be a big line. Yeah, I should have known better.
Also stood in line today at HHGregg. They had a 19″ LCD HDTV for $148. Sure the TV was a Curtis, a brand I had never heard of, but it is still a pretty sweet deal. Sadly, this is also the first LCD/HD TV that I have purchased. 
I’m still eyeing that 50 inch LED HDTV sitting at Best Buy.
iPhone OS 3.0
Friday, March 20th, 2009Last week Apple gave us a “sneak peak” to the next version of the Operating System that powers the iPhone and iPod Touch. If it’s as good as it sounds like it is going to be, it could eliminate the need for most people to jailbreak their devices. I’m certainly excited. (more…)
Odd iPhone Behavior
Friday, February 6th, 2009I decided that I’d take this weekend off from my 2nd job. While I’ll miss the money, it isn’t something I do often and I needed a break. Today I decided I’d take the wife out for lunch. Everything was good, we ate, I dropped her back off at work, and headed home. While stopped at a light, I was going to check a few things online… With 4 bars, I opened up Safari and got an error I had seen before, “Safari is not connected to the server.” I had seen this error a few times before, and restarting my iPhone always solved the issue. So, upon restart, I was surprised to see my iPhone telling me I needed to connect it to iTunes to activate it. What the heck??
I’ll admit, this kind of ticked me off. What the heck was going on. Well, guess I have to go home now and reactivate my phone. This sucks. As I get closer to home, I decide that I’ll restart my phone again. It shuts down, I turn it on, and everything is working just fine.
I really have no idea what was going on. My only guess is when I restarted the phone the first time, it didn’t have a good enough signal to communicate with the AT&T network.
Oh, and for those wondering why it says “Para Emergencia”. When the iPhone is not active, it still allows users to make an emergency call. The text there in the slider will change between a dozen or so different languages. It just happened to be the language displayed when I took the screen shot.