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- Magic Mouse Drains Keyboard Batteries
So the holidays are over. The food portions are returning to healthy sizes but the damage is done. New Year resolutions you’ve been ruminating on for weeks must now be taken seriously. It’s time to get in shape. No more excuses! No more distractions. You have that nice new Mac so you think, “Hey, I’ll type ‘em up and print ‘em out! If they’re pinned up on the wall I can’t possibly fail!”
Only, you might have a problem doing any typing if recent reports prove accurate. It seems the combination of Magic Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard are a toxic mix. Over on the Apple Support Discussions forum users are reporting that, since installing their Magic Mouse, their Apple Wireless Keyboards have been guzzling power like there’s no tomorrow.
Brand new, planet-killing alkaline batteries don’t make it through a full week. Tree-hugging rechargeables manage less. Users have been forced to revert to backup mice (mouses?) or switch-out their keyboards for a more traditional, wired variety.
User cbcirrus writes;
Apple Tech Support furnished three replacement aluminum keyboards (unfortunately one DOA and all three were three battery version). All replacement keyboards suffer from the low battery life issue.
They now claim it is a bluetooth driver issue and the engineers are working on a solution, presumably a new driver or patch. One tech said engineering believes the magic mouse bluetooth is interfering with keyboard bluetooth communication and/or sleep mode. No estimate as to time frame for solution just a suggestion to use rechargeable batteries until issue is resolved.
I haven’t been hit by the battery bug described here, but I’ve certainly had my own issues with the Magic Mouse / Wireless Keyboard combo which I suspect may be related. I’ve found that my Apple Wireless Keyboard interferes with my Magic Mouse. I simply can’t have both devices working at the same time in the same room without my Mouse pointer losing the will to live and being reduced to a stuttering, crawling, sorry excuse for a pointer.
Changing wireless channels on my router and Time Capsules made no difference. In the end I had no choice; if I wanted to continue using the Magic Mouse, sans judder, I had to switch keyboards to the wired variety that originally came with the Mac Pro.
About a month ago I found a thread on Apple’s discussion site explaining that — for 2009 Mac Pros — the problem doesn’t lie with the Broadcom bluetooth radio but with its drivers. Unfortunately, Apple isn’t privy to Broadcom’s firmware roadmap and can’t say when an update will arrive.
Oddly, I cannot find that thread now. I suspect that at some point in the intervening weeks it has been edited/removed. If you can find it, please share in the comments below. I mention it here because it sounds awfully similar to the explanation above… perhaps the two issues are connected?
Have you experienced issues with using the Magic Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard together?
What was the big news that happened in your sector in Q3? Catch up with GigaOM Pro's, "Quarterly Wrap-ups."
Переслать - iPhone Becomes a Universal Remote This February
I love my Logitech Harmony remote, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump on the opportunity to ditch the thing forever and simplify my digital world even further. A new third-party accessory and software combo announced at CES will allow me to do that by turning my iPhone or iPod touch into a Universal remote capable of controlling all of my home theater equipment.
It sounds promising, but it also brings back memories of apps for the Palm pilot that were supposed to do the very same thing. The Palm devices had built-in IR communication, so all you needed was the software, which sounded great, but ended up being clumsy and not really that usable on a regular basis. I still have a Palm in a bedside drawer that I occasionally drag out to use for that purpose, in fact. It never stays out long.
Hopefully the iPhone’s accessory, which is called the L5 Remote and will cost around $49.95 when it hits retail stores this February, won’t suffer from the same failings. Once you have the dock-connecting IR blaster, you can get the application for free from the App Store. It promises to control televisions, DVDs, DVRs, cable boxes, audio equipment and more. I’ve got my fingers crossed for some unofficial support for the Logitech Harmony PS3 adapter. The blaster is said to have a functional range of up to 30 feet.
One place where the iPhone’s universal remote app should easily trump the dated Palm version is in user interface. No messing about with a stylus or hit-and-miss finger touch response with Apple’s smartphone. And you’ll be able to create your own custom button configuration by dragging and dropping the appropriate commands from various devices in whatever arrangement you choose. That should make it easier than my physical remote, too, since I won’t have to rely on the pre-arranged layout of the buttons, which is sometimes far from intuitive depending on what device you’re controlling.
The press release for the L5 describes a “short, guided training sequence” before you can begin using it with your home theater setup, which could be coded PR speak for a long and arduous process of holding your remote up to the IR blaster add-on for each command you want your iPhone to learn. I’m really hoping that the app comes with a built-in code database for common brands and makes of equipment, or that they at least open it up to user-generated databases.
As of right now, L5’s web site is just a placeholder, which isn’t a promising sign, but keep your eyes peeled for the official release of the attachment and software next month. Hopefully by then there will at least be a place on the web to go looking for more info.
Переслать - Apple Misses Windows 7 Bootcamp Deadline, Apparently Everyone Except Me Really Cares
I have a confession to make. I don’t dual boot. I don’t use Windows on my Mac. I don’t need to. There’s not a single bit of software I need that is Windows-only. And even though I have Office:Mac 2008, I open Word and Excel documents in Pages and Numbers. (I don’t hate Office, I just find iWork to be a more rewarding experience!)
But, apparently, I’m in a minority, and every other Mac owner on Earth is simply aching to run Windows 7 on their Apple hardware. Well, you’d be forgiven for thinking as much, given the articles doing the rounds on tech sites this past weekend, most of them tersely reporting how Apple has missed its own deadline for providing official Boot Camp driver support for Microsoft’s latest version of Windows.
Here’s what Apple had to say in a (very short) support note published in October last year:
Apple will support Microsoft Windows 7 (Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate) with Boot Camp in Mac OS X Snow Leopard before the end of the year. This support will require a software update to Boot Camp.
The rest of the note was just a list of the nine older models of iMac and MacBook that wouldn’t support the Boot Camp update.
AppleInsider reached out to Apple for comment last week, as 2009 drew to a close. An Apple employee responsible for dealing with Bootcamp enquiries told them:
…it was very unlikely that the update would surface in the next 24 hours, adding that a release sometime early next year would be a safer bet.
MacWorld UK writes a little more dramatically about the missed deadline:
On the same day in October that rival Microsoft launched Windows 7 , Apple promised that it would revise Boot Camp… Apple has still not released a Boot Camp revision to its Software Update service.
Although Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 7 in late October, the company first provided developers with early builds a year before that, and began offering previews to the general public in February 2009.
Apple did not elaborate on why they would not support Microsoft’s newest operating system.
I’m not sure a missed deadline is the same as Apple demonstrating they unequivocally ‘would not’ support Windows 7, but the drama doesn’t end there. Here’s Paul Thurrott’s take, from a blog post entitled “Shame on Apple for not Providing Windows 7 Drivers by Now”:
Previously, Apple promised to provide Windows 7 drivers through its Boot Camp utility […] by the end of 2009. So they’re late. But these drivers can and should have been delivered to customers when Windows 7 shipped, in October. I guess the company was too busy fixing a widely-reported user data deletion issue in Snow Leopard to bother supporting a competing system that just works.
So thanks for nothing Apple. We know you’re scared of Windows 7, but come on.
I might offer a less florid possibility; could it possibly be just a delay? Y’know, like Microsoft experienced when it delayed the release of Windows 95. And Windows 98. And Windows… oh, you get the point. Look, software delays happen and they don’t have to mean anything!
Thurrott’s Apple-fan-baiting aside, I have a serious question; am I so completely out of touch that I’m the only Mac user in the world who doesn’t dual boot? OK, I played with some virtualization tools a while back out of sheer curiosity, and the half-hearted belief that I really might need Microsoft Office (note: I didn’t) but it wasn’t long before they were removed.
A Tad Silly
Mac OS X, iLife and iWork have most my bases covered for personal creativity and productivity. And while I do a lot of online collaboration with a wide circle of colleagues and friends, most of whom are on Windows machines, I’m not exaggerating when I say — it’s simply not an issue. Honestly, there isn’t a single thing I’ve come across in 18 months that absolutely demanded I use Windows.
But apparently, that’s unusual, and most Mac owners in the world not only use Windows, they need Windows and, more than any other version, they absolutely must have Windows 7, so Apple’s missed deadline is nothing short of scandalous.
True? Because if that’s not true, all of that breathless reporting over the weekend about missed deadlines and Apple’s ‘fears’ would prove a tad silly, wouldn’t it?
Actually, I have had one issue since switching to the Mac; my friends don’t use iChat. They’re stuck with Skype or — horror of horrors –Windows Live Messenger for video conferencing and collaboration. I pity them. It’s the one thing I wish Apple would release for Windows. The world would be a better place then, I’m sure.
So, tell me, Mac Majority, is Boot Camp’s (temporarily) absent Windows 7 support really the Big Deal the tech press have made it out to be? Am I truly in some peculiar Mac Minority who don’t install Windows on their Apple hardware? Am I, in fact, missing a far bigger point? Please enlighten me.
Переслать - Rumor Has It: Are These the Specs for the Apple Tablet?
File this one under “seriously not likely,” but for what it’s worth, a site called PhoneArena.com is showing off images it says are of a leaked document that details the hardware specifications of Apple’s upcoming tablet. The iSlate moniker is used, but there are a number of elements that suggest you might not want to bet the farm on the credibility of this particular source.
The specs themselves aren’t all that suspect, and in fact could be quite representative of what the actual hardware will look like when it is eventually released, though it’s not quite as impressive as video. But there are a couple odd usages of terms and some specs that seem outdated, which alone could just mean the document itself is rather old, but taken with the other oddities seem much more suspect.
The hardware details of the tablet read more like an entry-level MacBook than an upgraded iPod touch, and include a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and support for up to 8GB of RAM, with 2GB built-in to the base configuration. There’s also a 120GB 4200 RPM SATA HDD, which strikes me as a particularly odd choice for what is presumably meant to be a thin and light portable device.
Other hardware niceties include two USB 2.0 ports, an SD card slot, built-in speakers and mic and a combined digital/headphone out and line in like that found on the newest MacBook Pros. The screen is listed as 7.1 inches and boasts the same oleophobic coating found on the iPhone 3GS.
But here’s where it gets weird. In addition to the built-in iSight (not weird), there’s a built-in projector listed too (very weird). And the Airport Extreme is said to be based on the 802.11n draft specification, when we all know that specification was finalized in September. Also, no mention is made of 3G connectivity, something which has been making the rounds recently.
Maybe most interesting of all, and possibly most damning, is the news that the new tablet will run “Mac OS X Clouded Leopard,” a modified version of Snow Leopard designed specifically for the platform that uses widgets and can download and run App Store software. Also, this is minor, but there’s a missing period at the end of one of the bullet points on the document describing “Clouded Leopard,” and in another one the words “Up” and “to” aren’t separated by a space. Could just be bad proofing or the document is an early draft, but it’s enough to raise my suspicion level.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Apple will go this way with its new wonder device, or stick to more of a iPod touch/iPhone hardware format?
Переслать - Clonezilla Makes Quick Work of Hard Drive Data Restoration
We all know the importance of backing up the data on our hard drive but, honestly, restoring all your stuff after a catastrophic hard drive failure can be a real pain. Clonezilla is a free, open-source app that burns a mirror image of your drive’s data so you can reinstall everything in just a few clicks.
Clonezilla supports Intel-based Macs and comes in two versions: Live, for a single machine and SE for managing as many as 40 computers. As if that’s not handy enough, you have your choice of storage and reinstallation methods — CD, USB flash drive, or USB hard drive.
Once you’ve shoehorned the software onto a media storage device, boot it into the machine you want to clone and let the app work its magic. Several tutorials on Clonezilla’s web site walk you through the process of saving and restoring images, creating recovery CDs, and more.
There are plenty of ways to create backups of your data, but most are complicated or prohibitively expensive. If you’re looking for a great — and cheap — way to keep your data safe, then Clonezilla might be just the ticket.
What are your tips for easy and inexpensive data backup?
Переслать - Upon Further Review: How I Spent My Money in 2009
One of my end of the year rituals is looking back on what I dropped my hard-earned coin on over the year. This is a reckoning on software I thought would be a grand idea at the time and how I feel about the purchase at the end of the year.
Hardware
13" MacBook Pro: It was time to retire my cira-2006 WhiteBook and I chose the low-end Pro model. I debated upgrading to the higher-end 13" or the 15", but, since I had a 500GB drive I would be transferring, I decided on the low-end model. It's a fantastic machine I don't want to picture life without. No regrets.
Logitech Wave Keyboard: I've never been a big fan of Apple's keyboards. The clear white model feels too squishy, and the aluminum one feels too firm. I got the Logitech Wave on an impulse buy at BJs Warehouse one day and I like it. My only complaint is it's not bluetooth, and with the laptop I've stopped using it because I don't want to lose the dongle or tie up a USB port. No regrets.
OS X Software
Snow Leopard: I upgraded day one and haven't looked back. I love the new Automator, Stacks, and Expose. I can't think of any major hiccups I've had. No regrets.
Parallels Desktop 4.0 Upgrade: I hadn't planned on getting this — version 3 was doing fine for me. However, at some point the Version 4 trial got my system in a state where I couldn't easily downgrade from it and preserve my virtuals and I ended up saying, "screw it" and upgraded to 4.0. I still use it heavily as there are Windows apps I need to use. It gets used enough I'll likely be upgrading to Version 5 next year. No regrets.
Things: I'm constantly struggling with managing my to-do list. Until I got Things, no system worked for me. I tried Moleskine notebooks, Google Tasks, Evernote, having my wife remind me, iCal alerts — you name it. I got Things because of its iPhone integration (more on that in the iPhone section) and I love it. I was the site lead for an ISO audit and it was incredibly helpful managing the project. No regrets.
The Sims 3: The Sims franchise and I go way back; I've played all of them. Once I got the new Macbook and could actually run games, I grabbed the Sims 3. Overall, I like it. I was hoping it'd let me run without the CD like Spore does, and that's probably the biggest reason I don't play it much — I thought it'd be a perfect on the train game, but I tend to forget to grab the CD. Slight regret, only because I don't play it as much as I'd like.
LaunchBar 5: I had to upgrade when I went to Snow Leopard. I use this tool every day and still barely scratch the surface on its features. As an aside, check out ScreenCast Online's excellent LaunchBar tutorials. No regrets.
iLife 09: Granted, it came with my new MacBook, but I had also purchased a license on my old laptop. I only really use iPhoto and it's been a mixed bag. The Faces feature thought my wife was both a booth babe from E3 and a bearded game developer. I like the Flickr and Facebook exports, but I'm disappointed it doesn't sync photos I've uploaded to non-iPhoto created sets. However, I like having a central photo storage that I can get to from any application (using the new Services in Snow Leopard). Slight regret.
iWork 09: I've been waffling between iWork and Office for most of the year. Each have their advantages, but I'm finding how well iWork integrates with Snow Leopard's Services has resulted in me using it more. Keynote simply rocks; I used it for every presentation I had to give this year. No regrets.
iPhone Apps
I started going through my iTunes receipts to give an accurate list of everything I bought … and rapidly decided that list was too long to bore you with, so instead I'm just going to mention the high and low points. There's also a few I bought just because there was a great deal on them, so I'll ignore them for now, too.
Games
Hero of Sparta and NFL 2010: I got each of these as part of a Thanksgiving sale for a buck a piece. I like both of them: Hero is a nice God of War clone and NFL 2010 is a serviceable football game. No regrets.
Myst: I got this trying to relive my gaming youth. While it's an amazing technical accomplishment — it's the entire Myst game, right there on your iPhone — I've been disappointed; I just don't think it scales down well to the iPhone screen. This one is a regret.
Flight Control: Holy cow, is this game addictive or what? Not only do I regret getting this game, I think my boss regrets me getting it too — when he got an iPhone and asked for a game recommendation, it was the immediate choice and we're both infatuated with it. Seriously, though, no regrets.
Peggle: This is a game that's hard to describe; it's like an inverted version of Blockout merged with pinball. The idea is to make these colored blocks go away by aiming a canon of sorts at them. It's a fun game, but my one big issue is being color blind, I have a hard time telling the difference between some of the blocks.
Productivity
Quickoffice and DocsToGo: I bought them in a hope that my iPhone would become a netbook of sorts, and it didn't quite work out that way. It's not a fault of either program (they are both good) but my own work habits. While it's rare I'll attempt to do work on these, the few times I've had to use them puts them in the no regrets column.
Things: I've covered this already, but the iPhone app is a perfect companion to the desktop; I tend to use the iPhone app more than the desktop version. I only have two complaints: I can't define Areas of Responsibility on the iPhone, and the data sync doesn't happen via the cloud, but they seem to be working on that.
AutoStitch: I wrote about this one here, but suffice to say, I use it enough to instantly make it a no regret.
Byline: I float between Byline and the Google Reader web app. I frequently use Byline more because it’s a stand-alone app and syncs very well with Google Reader. However, both of them expose a limitation of the iPhone OS that drives me nuts: because apps can’t talk to each other, I can’t “send to Evernote” as I can when viewing Reader in a traditional browser. No regrets.
Simplenote: This is a handy Notes app that also has a web client, so, unlike the iPhone's Notes app you sync over the cloud. It makes me wish I could delete the built-in Notes app.
Wooji Presentation Remote and Apple's Keynote Remote: This was the year where I had to give a few presentations, and, being the geek that I am felt I needed an app on the iPhone to control Keynote. It was a disaster, Since it uses a Wi-Fi connection to the laptop the iPhone battery drained too fast and I felt myself looking down at the iPhone for my cues, falling into the dreaded "staring at the index cards" presentation method. I ended up going back to the Apple physical remote and using my Macbook and Keynote in presentation mode.
In 2008 it felt like I had more regrets than 2009. Perhaps that was a case of the App Store launching and just going nuts buying it, or this year I was more discerning about my purchases. How about you? What purchases did you make in 2009 you liked or regret?
Переслать
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