Just a quick post today on something I needed to do. You can use a Thunderbolt cable (not cheap) to transfer files between two Macs.
In my case, the WiFi connection on the Macbook was not functioning well and I need to transfer several GB of data over, I did however have a Thunderbolt cable.
Use this method on Apple’s Support site. It works on Mountain Lion as well.
5.3 GB in about 15 seconds
Apple had its best quarter ever in education, CEO Tim Cook said today on the company’s quarterly earnings call. That includes the companies highest sales ever, and a 94 percent tablet market share for iPad.
A 94 percent share of the education tablet market is good for Apple, but is it good for education? As the saying goes, “there is nothing like good competition”. I think Apple needs some competition in this space, but that is easier said than done. A good tool for education is about the hardware and the software, something Apple controls entirely with its iPad and iOS, as well as creating a thriving app developer community.
If Google, as the most likely form of competition is to grab some of that market share, they will need to create a viable education hardware and software eco system to do that.
As some schools in the USA are finding out the hard way, you can not simply put an iPad in the hands of every student and hope they get a better education.
Read the full article here
So the Apple rumour mill is a buzz with talk of the Apple iWatch (or whatever they decide to call it). Information has surfaced recently that Apple has a patent for what can best be described as a “slap bracelet”.
“In a first equilibrium position they can be flat. The second equilibrium is typically reached by slapping the flat embodiment across the wrist, at which point the bracelet curls around the wrist and stays relatively secure in a roughly circular position.”
This is quite intriguing, imagine being able to take your iWatch off and straighten it out and use it differently to when it’s wrapped around your wrist. Maybe for playing a game, or even a game controller for your iPad or Apple TV. Perhaps a camera for stills, video or even scanning.
Use Case
I try to not be that guy that just buys anything Apple sells, but this iWatch idea does appeal to me. I agree with what many people are saying, this will reduce the number of times you need to remove your iPhone from your pocket, if it displays all the notifications you get on your iPhone. But for me personally, I never hear my iPhone in my pocket, or feel it vibrate. I really do miss a lot of important messages or calls when my phone is in my pocket. So what I do now is constantly look at my iPhone substantially increasing the risk of dropping it.
I have not worn a wrist watch for many years, so wearing an iWatch will take some adjustment, but if it does what people are suggesting, it will be worth it.
What do the rumours say it will do?
So from what I can gather is as mentioned above, all sorts of notifications. The possibility to reply to messages via the device and/or voice (Siri). Video calls via Facetime. Reminders and calendar events. Plus some kind of health tracking, such as a pedometer or even more sophisticated body measurements like pulse rate. It will be an iOS device, so provided it is not locked out by Apple, we could see a number of apps built specifically for it.
What will it look like?
For an artists mock-up I found this image on iDownloadBlog
Being the go to person in my group of friends and family for tech help, I have started to notice more women taking a greater interest in technology. I decided to test my theory and ran a rather informal poll on my Facebook page. I wanted to gauge how many of my lady friends had taken to using a smart device like a tablet or smartphone and how they get what ever they want working. Do they do it themselves or get some other geek in the family to do it for them.
My Dad has an iPhone 3GS lying around as a spare phone. So when iOS 6 came out and is still supported on the 3GS, I decided to upgrade the phone. Once I was done, I noticed the display was protruding from the case. I thought someone had dropped the phone and the screen had popped out, then I realized the whole phone was “swollen”. I figured the battery had swollen up and was pushing the screen out.
I thought the phone is pretty useless and perhaps dangerous to use like this, so what do I have to loose by attempting a battery replacement myself.
I did a search online for somewhere I could buy a battery, and came across uFix.co.za. Not only do they sell the battery, but a kit to do the work as well. Seeing as the battery is $20, I figured R249 was not bad for the whole kit, which was R319 with shipping.
With regards to the order, I must relay the confirmation email I got.
Dear Derek
When you placed your order with uFix (http://ufix.co.za/), a hushed silence fell upon a dustless cleanroom hidden deep within the bowels of Table Mountain. Inside, bright industrial lights gave way to soft aroma-scented candles where an ancient team of meticulous engineers bowed their heads in murmuring chant. With zen-like focus, they clasped together their velvet, anti-static gloves in hallowed prayer and on 09/22/2012 accepted your order to the value of R 319.00 ZAR.
The Engineers carefully laid out your purchased items on a satin sheet for inspection and, one by one, placed each item in an airtight container lined with silver of the finest quality:
1x iPhone 3GS Battery Repair Kit for R 249.00 each
Subtotal : R 249.00 ZAR
VAT : R 30.58 ZAR
Shipping : R 70.00 ZAR
Total : R 319.00 ZAR
A pack of tame wildebeest then proceeded to escort your package to a deep, quiet pool where a group of mermaids waited to ferry your sealed package via the Mariana Trench. From the deepest, tranquil depths of our known oceans, Poseidon proceeded to bless your order so that a team of feral horses may deliver it overland to: (my address)
I found that rather amusing.
So onto the moment of truth. The website ifixit.com has some very good guides on how to repair devices. The do have an iPhone 3GS Battery Replacement guide with video. So simply watching the video as an overview and then following the guide step by step was the process.
However, with this swollen battery issue of mine, I had a bit of a moment of terror. Once I got the display assembly off, I could see the battery was pushing the logic board up. Once I started to remove the screws holding the logic board in, I found them rather tight and hard to unscrew. As soon as I had the second screw out along the side, the logic board shot up with a loud crack. I was really concerned it would break. Then pressing down I removed the remaining screws to expose the battery.
It was well and truly a balloon. I had protective glasses on, but really did not want this thing to explode on me. It is stuck to the back case with adhesive tape, so you need to pry it off, a process that I found myself doing without looking.
Once that was over, fitting the new battery and putting everything back in reverse order was pretty easy. Those ribbon cables were a bit tricky though.
Then the moment of truth, I turned the trusty iPhone back on and it worked without a problem. So she has a brand new battery, and the latest iOS 6. Not bad for a phone that’s 3 years old.
It seems that all the rumors were correct. It would be nice to see a big bang with a completely new take on the cellphone, but this evolution on the iPhone is very good.
From an engineers perspective I must say that I would be ticked off by people saying this is just a facelift, when there has obviously been some very complex engineering accomplishments. The iPhone 5 does look like a serious piece of kit.
A whole bunch of specs have been updated, what jumps out at me is obviously the bigger screen. Making the screen taller appeals to me because I would find more visible screen above the onscreen keyboard very useful.
Next the 720p front facing camera is a nice update. The rear camera is still the same spec wise, but benefits from improvements to the lens hardware additions to the software, which will account for better pictures. The picture capture time is also quicker, which was often a complaint of older iPhones and you can take pictures while shooting video.
Then the new dock connector. I have invested in a few 30pin Apple accessories, but making the connector now all digital, is a natural step forward. The connector is also reversible, so plug it in whichever way you like, good for finding your charger in the dark. There will be a 30pin to “Lightning” adapter
There is a new A6 processor, they say it’s 2x faster.
LTE gives much faster cellular network speeds, we will have to see if it works in SA when they launch LTE here.
And to top it all, some new earphones called “EarPods”. Also a bit of cool engineering.
I am due for contract update, and will order this phone as soon as I can. Can’t wait.
On 2012/09/11 Google launched their dedicated YouTube app for iPhone. There has been much speculation regarding this as Apple have removed the YouTube app embedded in iOS from the upcoming iOS 6 release.
I installed the app on my iPhone and iPad, so here are my initial findings.
The first thing is that this is an iPhone only app, but it does run on the iPad. The interface is clean and navigation is similar to the Google+ and Facebook apps.
One thing I liked straight away was the inclusion of Channel playlists, not the playlist you set up on YouTube, those have always been there, but the playlists users create on their YouTube channel.
I watch the MotorTrend channel quite a bit and like the way that they sort there videos into playlists. Can we have this on the Apple TV too please.
Talking about Apple TV, this app does support AirPlay, but only for audio. If you have an iPad or iPhone 4S you can use AirPlay Mirroring, which will then show the audio and video on the Apple TV, but not at full screen. (Please update this Google)
I would be surprised if Google don’t release an iPad version of this soon, espcially seeing as a 7″ iPad Mini is more than likely coming soon.
I do like the app and will use it. It’s smooth and responsive and video loads quickly. But for me the iPhone is not the primary device I use to watch YouTube.
When it comes to sharing videos this app has you covered
Here are a few more screen captures showing the interface and search
Available for free in the iTunes App store
How often has it happened that iTunes is busy downloading the update file for your iOS device, and it fails, with NO RESUME!! So you have to start all over.
This page might help, because you get a direct link to the file on the Apple site, and you can use a download manager to get the file with resuming.
Thanks to OSXDaily
Firmware files have an .ipsw extension and can be found at the following locations:
On Windows XP :
Documents and Settings
On Windows Vista/Windows 7:
Users[UserName]
On Mac:
~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
Thanks to iPhone FAQ
You can then place the file in that location and run the update, iTunes will pick the file up, verify it and skip the download portion of the update.
Apple will announce a next gen iPad – TRUE
Apple will announce an update to iOS – TRUE
Apple will update the Apple TV – TRUE
Apple will announce something new – TRUE
Didn’t do to badly I thought
My feelings on this are, if you have the bucks, then upgrading from your iPad 2 will give you an awesome screen and better performance. There is not a massive difference between iPad 2 and iPad 3.
If you are considering a tablet for the first time, the iPad 3 will have the best screen experience., nothing else compares at the moment. But you will pay for that.
I will be keeping my iPad 2 for now, unless I get some bucks to blow, because I would love the iPad 3. Oh and by the way, the price stays the same.
Apple will be hosting an event later today, so I thought I would put down my predictions before hand and see how accurate I was.
Apple will announce a next gen iPad
Apple will announce an update to iOS
Apple will update the Apple TV
Apple will announce something new
Well lets see how many I get right
Posted with Blogsy