Yeah, yeah, Mac OS X 10.7 — Lion — will be the star of the show, and we’ll probably see some refreshed Macs and maybe even a new MacBook Air. But I’m hoping we’ll also get FaceTime integration on Macs — most likely through iChat. And while I’m pushing my luck, I’ll add the hope that it comes as a separate update and we won’t have to wait until 10.7. A side note: does this spell the end of Apple’s cat-themed OSes? I mean, where do you go from Lion?
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Apple’s Music Event announcements explored on MacJury
I took part in the latest MacJury podcast, where we discussed the announcements made at Apple’s September Music Event. I joined Host Chuck Joiner and panelists Dave Hamilton, Don McAllister and Omaha Sternberg to give our thoughts on the slew of product updates ranging from new iPod shuffles, nanos and touches; iTunes 10; iOS 4.1 (and beyond); the updated AppleTV and more—even the marketing strategy behind Apple’s return to live streaming of events.
I like the MacJury whether I’m on the panel or not. I’ve said it before, but Chuck does a great job of bringing together people with interesting points of view and importantly, objectivity. MacJury also provides enough time to delve beneath the surface on issues and get into the details—this is not just a bullet-point listing of what was said, but an exploration of how we got here and what it might mean for the future.
The show can be downloaded for free from iTunes or you can listen directly from the MacJury website. It’s a smart group of people and I’m happy to be asked to participate so often.
Newer’s HDMI adapter gives your Mac the ‘Big Screen’ treatment
[In my latest piece over at The Mac Observer, I look at very cool adapter from Newer Technology that lets you hook up your Mac’s video (and audio!) to an HTDV. I examine it mostly from a road warrior angle, but it’s also got some great applications as a home theater solution (as an alternative to an Apple TV) or a presentation tool. The full review is at TMO, along with my final “star” rating.]
I spend a fair amount of time in hotel rooms these days, and lately, I’ve noticed a couple of trends in in-room entertainment. No, not that kind of entertainment — I’m talking about the increasing frequency of HDTVs and the decreasing quality of the programming available for them. I mean, how many different ways can you mash up reality TV concepts? What’s left — “The Real Housewives of the Jersey Shore Apprentice for Survivor Runway Designers?”
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No, between Hulu and burning my own DVDs onto my MacBook Pro I rarely want for something good to watch. But viewing all that content on a 15” laptop when there’s a perfectly good 42” LCD screen blankly staring at me from the wall is not my idea of an efficient use of technology.
Since I usually have a projector cable and a Mini DisplayPort adapter with me, I can get a pretty good picture, but I’m stuck with laptop sound, since I’ve never been able to get the audio in on those sets to work with the video from the projector cable. Besides, when it comes to video-input acronyms, I’d rather go with HDMI than SVGA any day. On a more business-related note, I’ve come to love running through my presentations on a big screen. I find it a much more natural way to practice the delivery and pacing of a talk.
Suffice it to say that when I learned about Newer Technology’s Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, my interest was piqued — especially when I learned it carried stereo audio to the HDMI port as well as video.
Like most of Newer Technology’s products I’ve tried, it’s a clever and thoughtful concept, well executed. The male Mini DisplayPort jack ends in a female HDMI port, which has pluses and minuses. On the downside, it means you’ll have to supply your own HDMI cable — which means cannibalizing one from another source whenever you need it, or buying a dedicated cable — which adds to the total cost of your solution. On the plus side, it means you can choose whatever length of cable suits your needs; it also presumably keeps the adapter’s overall cost down. I suppose it’s a pay-one-way-or-another situation, and with a little online digging, you might even find a separate cable for less than what an integrated adds to the price of the adapter.
Audio is supplied through your computer’s USB port, which the adapter integrates into its HDMI port. It’s a nice solution, which provides an uncompressed stereo signal through an integrated USB audio decoding chip.
In practice, the adapter couldn’t be simpler to use. Just plug the adapter’s two cables into your Mac (Mini DisplayPort and USB), plug one end of your own HDMI cable into the adapter on one end and the TV on the other. Make sure your TV is tuned to the right input and you should be all set. If your Mac doesn’t recognize the new display on its own (mine did every time), just fire up your System Preferences’ Displays pane and choose it. You can choose to use your TV as a second monitor or a mirror of your Mac’s screen. Audio volume is controlled the same way as your Mac’s speaker — either through software controls or the keyboard. Although the Newer Technology adapter is capable of displaying full 1020p high definition video, what you’ll actually get depends on the source. But in all resolutions I tried, the output was pristine, with no jittering or artifacts. Sound quality was equally good, although I tested it using the TV’s internal speakers and not a high quality sound system.
My only quibbles with the adapter are small ones. First, the plastic housing of the adapter felt slightly “soft” to me, which I at first attributed to a lower quality. After some fairly rough testing, though, the adapter was still in great shape, and I began to think that had the housing been more rigid, it would have been more likely to break. The softness, I suspect, provides more give to withstand the rigors of a travel bag.
Second, at $49.99, I thought it seemed expensive. Searching online, though, it seems in line with or less than similar adapters I found. The only significantly cheaper alternatives only work on a select few newer Macs, and Newer Technology offers those, too.)
So then, the real question is what value to you put on the ability to turn an HDTV into a big, beautiful monitor and speaker for your Mac? While the occasional traveler might be inclined to make do with that small screen, the seasoned road warrior is sure to want Newer’s HDMI adapter for his or her arsenal.
One thing’s for sure: you’ll never be happier to find an HDTV in your next hotel room than you will when you have the Newer HDMI adapter in your travel bag. And you’ll never have to settle for hotel programming again.
Shameless plugs
I missed the opportunity to pimp a couple of my recent contributions to the collective consciousness lately. In my latest piece for the Mac Observer, for instance, I presume to discover the true and heretofore hidden appeal of the iPad.
Meanwhile, over at the MacJury, I participated in a panel discussing AT&T’s new data plans, and give them them a lot (perhaps too much) credit for devising a way to expand their user base in a highly saturated universe while ensuring they don’t take a proportional hit on their infrastructure. Whew, that’s a lot of marketing jargon, even for me.
MacJury Live at Macworld 2010 video now available
I got to meet my fellow MacJurors face-to-face at Macworld San Francisco 2010 for a live version of the MacJury podcast. Host Chuck Joiner and our panel recorded the session live on the floor of the Moscone Center — in the Music Theater stage, to be more specific — in front of a live audience. The panel consisted of Tanya Engst, from TidBITS and TakeControl Books, Ted Landau from Macworld and The Mac Observer, Jeff Gamet from The Mac Observer and the Design Weekly Podcast and yours truly. The audience was super, the conversation lively and it was a typically fun session. Thanks to all who attended and for Chuck for putting it together. The session — in all its video glory — is now available on the MacVoices.tv website.
Greetings from Macworld Expo 2010!
I just returned from a week at San Francisco’s Macworld Conference and Expo 2010. Hopefully, you’ve been frequenting The Mac Observer, where I’ve had a few posts on the subject lately, including one that appeared today entitled “They Said it Couldn’t Be Done: IDG Pulls Off an Apple-less Expo Hit.”
I also spoke at the Conference, delivering a session called on keyboard shortcuts called “Look Ma, No Mouse!” If you attended the conference, you already know where to find the slides. IDG, the show’s organizer, will be sending out more information on that soon as well.
On the show floor, I was lucky enough to be asked to participate in MacJury Live – a session of Chuck Joiner’s excellent podcast done in front of a live audience. It was great fun talking about the show with Chuck and fellow jurors Jeff Gamet, Tanya Engst and Ted Landau — some of the smartest people in the Mac community. As soon as the show is posted (in video, no less!) I’ll put a link to it here.
Between the Mac Observer article and the MacJury podcast, I’ve said pretty much all I have to say on the topic, other than to reiterate that it was a great show, ironically made perhaps even better by Apple’s absence.
One Thing’s for Sure: Apple Won’t Unveil a “Tablet Computer” on Wednesday
Jumping on the speculation bandwagon thisclose to the finish line, I wrote an article for The Mac Observer on what I think we’ll see at Apple’s special event on January 27th. What’s missing in my predictions is the “killer feature” I think the device needs to make it compelling enough to fill the very narrow void between the iPhone and a laptop. In fact, my guess is that this won’t be quite like either of these devices and that Apple is poised to unveil a totally different kind of device. A computer, for sure (but then again, so is the iPhone), but not something that will be thought of as a computer — and certainly nothing like the “tablet computers” we’ve seen on the Windows side for years.
Give it a read. There’s only a few hours to wait to see how prescient — or off-base — I really am.
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“One Thing’s for Sure: Apple Won’t Unveil a ‘Tablet Computer’ on Wednesday” on the Mac Observer
How TMO staffers use their iPhones
I just wrote a post for The Mac Observer as part of a series on how the site’s staffers use their iPhones. (My contribution is Part III of II; you have to read it to understand.) Here’s a snippet:
One of the best things I’ve found about the iPhone is that it’s not really a separate device at all – it acts as an extension of not just my Mac at home, but of the accumulated knowledge of the human race. OK, that’s a bit hyperbolic, but that’s the way it feels. Before the iPhone came out, I wrote about the need for a “convergence device” – one that could be used away from my home Mac, but allowed me to access its power and functionality. The iPhone has very much become that convergence device for me. And that convergence has, well, converged even more over time, thanks in large part to the over-the-air synching capabilities rolled out via MobileMe and the speed of 3G networking.
The full article is on The Mac Observer — Don’t forget to read parts 1 and 2 for some insights from more “regular” staffers like Dave Hamilton, Bryan Chaffin, Bob LeVitus, Jeff Gamet and others.
Social Media from a corporate perspective on MacVoices
At New Media Expo in Las Vegas last month, I joined Chuck Joiner for a discussion of Social Media and its implications for corporations. We discussed whether or not corporations “get” Tweeting, blogging and other aspects of Social Media and whether it’s too late for those who don’t. As always, it was a lively and (I hope) interesting conversation. My apologies in advance for the fact that it’s a video interview.
You can watch the interview below or on Chuck’s MacVoices website.
When high adventure and low tech collide
Since I got my first iPhone two years ago, I’ve lightened my tech load considerably when I travel. For most short trips, I now leave my trusty MacBook Pro home — or at least in its bag. I can check email, surf the web, watch movies and even post articles to RandomMaccess from my iPhone.
Lightening is one thing, but going for almost a week without tech of any kind is quite another. Yet that’s the situation I faced on a recent scouting trip with my older son last month.
We traveled to Summerland Key, one of the western most of the Florida Keys. Warned by our island guides that there was no electricity or cell coverage anyway, we were informed that cellphones, iPods, etc were prohibited on the island. My digital SLR camera was the only thing with a battery I would be able to take. Other than that, the most advanced piece of technology I carried was my Leatherman multi-tool.
So how did I fare? Much better than I expected, actually. We were busy enough that I was never really all that tempted to post to Twitter or check email. It turns out that fishing, snorkeling, kayaking and preparing food are pretty good distractions from web surfing and iApps. And once I came to terms with the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to check in with my Lotus Notes account at the office, I was fine. The only time I was really conscious about not having my iPhone was when I wanted to use my Star Walk application to identify some of the constellations that were so brilliant in the night sky, and to use my iPhone as a camera — especially a video camera.
Albert Einstein once said “never memorize what you can look up in books.” With my iPhone and its near-ubiquitous connection to the web and all its vast resources, along with nine screens of applications, I can look up almost anything and so by extension, have to memorize almost nothing. That meant I had to rely on my memory and not my knot-tying app or my first aid app or even — Lord help me — Google. In the end, my two half hitches and taught line hitch held the hammock (my bed for the week) securely to our favorite gumbo limbo tree; we estimated the time from the sun’s position in the sky well enough to know when to start dinner; and we identified several constellations (and the Milky Way!) as we snorkeled in the dark night. All in all, I’m glad I traded the convenience of being able to look up a few things for the absence of distractions and temptations having the iPhone would have meant.
You can read more about my island adventure on my personal blog, and you can check out some of the pictures from the trip on the Troop 200 photo gallery.