Adam's Blog

At last week’s Apple Media Event, the company finally revealed the tablet PC that has been rumored for a very long time. Out of all the names, they picked the name that I was least expecting, the iPad. There will be 2 versions released, one of them will be a Wifi Only version and a Wifi and 3G version. The Wifi version, set to release in March, will only be able to connect to the internet from a Wifi connection and will be sold in 16, 32 and 64 GB models. The Wifi and 3G version will not only be able to connect to Wifi, but also to AT&T’s 3G network. It will also be sold in 16, 32 and 64 GB models and is set for release in April. The device itself looks like a really cool device, but I think too much was expected from it. Yes, I know Apple is a great company and a lot is expected from them, but it was way over hyped. One of the major let downs, in my opinion is also one of the let downs about the iPhone: limited network connectivity. The only 3G company that it can connect to is AT&T’s which we all know as one of the worst mobile carrier companies in the world. One of the main things I would like to see in the future as well as with the iPhone would be more carrier options. I do plan to buy one, but probably not a first generation model.

Last week I was in the Apple Store looking around and I picked up the Apple Wireless Keyboard, which I was originally going to buy after Christmas, and bought it that day. It is such a small and compact keyboard, and it works very well for going over Bluetooth. It runs off of a battery, and it seems to be lasting a while because it has been on since about Wednesday when I got it, and it hasn’t even sucked up 10% of life yet. It is a nice sized keyboard and the absolute best keyboard I have ever owned. I will definitely keep using these Apple keyboards for the years to come. It is a little pricey, $69, but definitely worth every penny you invest in it.

Since I am short on time, this will be a post on my thoughts on the latest version of iTunes. At first, I wasn’t to fond of the new iTunes Store look, but after I started to adjust to it, things got better. The nice UI is definitely a win when it comes to iTunes. The iTunes DJ, in my opinion, is pretty good….. if your a DJ. The home sharing feature is excellent, especially since I got my MacBook. I can transfer everything I have on iTunes via this feature and it has saved me a LOT of time. As I said, this is a short post, but my overall opinion of iTunes 9 is that it is the best one yet.

Coming up on two weeks ago, my Windows laptop died and I decided to purchase a MacBook. Since then, I no longer have any Window’s computers in my house. I have been using a Mac as my primary OS since June of 2008 and have loved it. This is the second Mac I have every owned and it runs better than any other laptop I have ever owned. The laptop is fast, reliable, and actually works for me. Now, as some of you may know, a few days ago Apple introduced the new MacBook. Since I bought the MacBook at my local Apple Store less than 14 days ago, I was able to bring in the previous model MacBook and get the new one for no extra charge. The new MacBook runs even better due to a little bit faster processor and memory. The LED back lit display and the multi-touch glass track pad is better as well. There is nothing really bad I have to say about it, and I highly suggest purchasing a Mac over a PC any day.

2 weeks ago today, the latest release of Mac OS X, 10.6 (Snow Leopard), was released. I was one of the many “Apple fanatics” who went out and bought it the day it came out. Since I have installed Snow Leopard, I have absolutely loved it. I have noticed a bunch of minor bug fixes and a major performance boost. The one noticeable thing is the speed of everything. One of my personal favorite updates would be that Finder has been re-written in Cocoa and it is really great. The new Quicktime X is really nice, but in my opinion, it has slimmed down a little too much. It has a really nice interface, but they need to bring back some of the features they had in Quicktime 7. Also, for Quicktime Pro users, it is a little disappointing that there is no support for that now. The new 64 Bit support has really taken advantage of the graphics card and everything is looking amazing. The few little things that I found wrong with Snow Leopard is that some of my USB devices don’t work when I initially boot up. Another thing, that is not really Snow Leopard’s fault is that 2 applications I use, Grabup and Carbonite Backup, do not yet support Snow Leopard. I really am enjoying Snow Leopard and I rate it a 5/5. I do not, however, say that you have to rush an get it as soon as possible if you haven’t got it already. It can wait for a little while.

Yet again, I am going to review a really nice app on the iPhone called UrbanSpoon. This app allows you to find local restaurants around your area in a few different ways. One way to find a random restaurant would be by shaking the iPhone and it will randomly select a  city, type of restaurant it is, and put a $ depending on how expensive place it is. Below that, It will give you the restaurant and it will give you what it serves, the phone number, and the address. It also allows you to vote on whether or not you like it. You may also read reviews others have posted about it. There is an option to share your finds with a friend by having account with UrbanSpoon or by connecting with FaceBook. You can also browse and search for restaurants without using the “Shake” feature. One last feature is something called “Near Me” which shows you what restaurants are near you in about a 2 mile radius. That about wraps it up for this app, I highly recommend you get this because it is a really useful app and it’s free!

One of the first applications I bought and downloaded is one that I also run on my Mac called Tweetie. This is a very nicely made, simple to use Twitter client for the iPhone. It has a very nice and simple interface and has the ability to choose what type of “skin” you want for your updates. You can also put up to more than one account on Tweetie. This application does cost $2.99, but it is well worth the money. Here is a screenshot of it.

I have been a Mac user for over a year now, but never have used iChat until now for some certain reasons. I have been using Adium, which is a great client, and I would suggest to anybody, but I wanted to stick more to using the Apple software already on the Mac. To me, iChat is missing 3 features that I would want. More IM support (like MSN), ability to use just 1 window to have all your contacts, and a way to disable having to accept every IM you get. It came to my attention today about a few tweaks you can do to fix this. For the last 2 on my list, there is a 3rd Party piece of software called Chax. This gives you a few more preferences to customize. Then to get MSN on there, I had to go through a little bit of a long process to get it setup via a Jabber account. Despite those missing features, I think iChat is a great client, and with a little more work, it will be my absolute favorite.