Ryan & Amanda Keefer's Personal Site: Cycling, Family, Tech, Music, Software & Game Reviews, etc.
// November 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple
Guess I’m not the only one who signed up for iTunes Match, and fully doesn’t get everything it does, though replacing all my many ripped CDs (most at 128kbps) with 256 kbps is worth it alone.
For me, it’s a pretty good deal. Your mileage may vary.
// November 9th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, iPhone
This is a total bummer, but not in the least surprising. Siri and the camera are the two real differentiators of it over older versions of the iPhone.
Let’s keep in mind too that Siri is still in beta, and still being ramped up. I’m more interested to see how it evolves and if and when it’s integrated into other products.
Apple Confirms No Current Plans to Bring Siri to Older Devices
// October 5th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple
Wow, just a day after Tim Cook did his first solo product announcement, we find out Steve Jobs has passed away. He obviously was struggling over the past couple years, and definitely as of late.
I don’t think it comes as a shock to anyone at the announcement tonight that he has passed away. Yet at the same time, it is shocking. Steve Jobs was and is Apple.
Apple wouldn’t be on the map today without his return, and say what you will about him personally, but he was an obviously marketing dynamo and very driven to all things Apple.
Rest in peace, Mr. Jobs. Thanks for all the great products over the years.
// August 4th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, OS X, Software
Everyone’s had a little time with Lion, that is if you’ve upgraded already. Personally, I’m not a fan—especially of the oft mentioned “natural” scrolling, which doesn’t work for me as a desktop convention. In fact, all the changes that are trying to make OS X feel more like iOS kind of irk me.
That being said, I think I’ll get used to Lion, and $30 for an upgrade for all my Macs isn’t a bad price. So far though, I haven’t found any killer features I feel like I’m missing out on between Snow Leopard at work, and my Lion machines at home.
The article below gives five nice tweaks for Lion, though honestly, I’ve only implemented the showing of my Library. I don’t mind missing the scrollbars, nor things like autocorrect. Check back with me in a month. I may have changed my mind, but so far while nothing really wows me, nothing completely repulses me either.
// July 20th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, Computers, Software
Big day for Apple fanboys— new hardware released in the form of new Thunderbolt-equipped, faster MacBook Airs (along with the discontinuation of the entry-level portable—white polycarbonate MacBook) and Mac Minis.
This came in conjunction with the long-rumored next version of Mac OS X – Lion, available exclusively right now via the Mac App store. Downloaded it already and will finish installing this evening.
If you’re like me, you haven’t really dove into what all the “250 new features” of Lion are. I’m sure playing around with it over the next few days will get me up to speed, but in the meantime, Mac World did a great in-depth writeup on what Lion is offered. For $30, it seemed like a no-brainer to update all our in-house Macs to the newest operating system.
// June 7th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, iPad, iPhone
In case you missed a lot of the news from Apple WWDC Keynote yesterday (like I did), check out the video of the event.
Video: WWDC Keynote / Apple Special Event, June 6, 2011
If you don’t have the time, or feel the need to watch the entire video, the rundown of most everything yesterday is in the links below. I’m most excited about the iOS5 release coming this fall.
What Mac owners need to know after today’s WWDC announcements
Apple Previews iOS 5 with Notification Center, OTA Updates, Wi-Fi iTunes Syncing and More
// March 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, iPad
So any of you current iPad owners out there. Just a quick note I saw from Tuaw.com. With the iPad 2 going on sale today (an hour ago here in my time zone), a lot of apps are going to be on sale in the app store this weekend. If you’ve had your eye on an app or two, this weekend might be the perfect time to pull the trigger!
Lots of iPad Games Go on Sale This Weekend, Likely More to Come
// March 8th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, Software
I’ve been an iTunes user since its inception, running it starting on one of those old iMac G4′s with the half-dome base, and the movable screen — still my favorite iMac design. Anyway, iTunes has evolved and continued to add new features in all of its ten major software revisions — some good, some bad and some “meh.”
Throughout all of them, AppleScripts have helped enhance iTunes’ functionality. This article does a great job explaining the whole process and recommends a few good scripts that are useful to have. I already use a couple they recommended: “Update Expired Podcasts” and “Change iTunes Hidden Preferences.” I definitely need to get “Super Remove Dead Tracks” as well.
// March 2nd, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Apple
OK, I’d be remiss if I didn’t chime in on Apple’s iPad 2 announced today. If you’ve already got the original, there’s not really anything here to make you want to upgrade. Sure, it’s got cameras front and back now, matching the iPod and iPhone, and it’s faster and thinner, but the second generation in my mind is just tweaking the original. There were rumors that the iPad might go carbon fiber. Being a bike geek, I’d love to see the iPad wrapped in carbon fiber. When it does, I might have to request an iPad of my own.
Honestly though, the coolest thing about the iPad 2 is its newly-redesigned magnetic case, which covers the screen, making the screen sleep instantly. It also folds to allow the iPad to be propped up securely in either landscape or portrait. To me, that’s the coolest feature of the second generation iPad.
I think I’ll hold out for the third one, in the hopes of it being more evolutionary and some carbon fiber.
// February 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Apple, Sports Stuff, Tech
As the Super Bowl gets ready to start here in a little bit, thought it was appropriate to post this today, though I really don’t see this happening anytime soon. You’re talking about talking a durable little book and replacing it with a $499+ fragile piece of hardware. Sure, it would offer up some cool applications, sharing and networking stuff, but so many head coaches are antiquated dinosaurs. I just don’t see it happening, nor really the need.
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