Technology Corner

Posts Tagged ‘Apple’

Apple’s fourth-generation iPod Nano returns to the original long, light, and slender formula that put the series on the map. The Nano 4G feels impossibly light and thin, with a seamless metal construction that allows you to click, like a twig. Curved glass now covers the iPod Nano’s screen, with better scratch resistance. The shape have softened, measuring 3.5 inches tall by 1.6 inches wide by 0.25 inch thick at its center. Headphone and dock connections are located on the bottom of the Nano 4G, and a slide switch allows you to maintain the appearance in the top of the player.

Menu text size has increased slightly and album cover art takes up less real estate on the main menu. In an effort to increase the availability Nano for people with impaired vision, Apple has included a font size in the fourth generation Nano that makes its menus more legible. The Nano’s music playback screen now presents full-screen album art by default, and Cover Flow view is zippier than before, offering alphabetization letters below the covers to quickly navigate through your collection.

All of the features from last year’s Nano have migrated to the fourth-generation model, including music, video, and podcast playback, as well as extras such as photos, calendar, games, alarms, stopwatch, contacts, notes, and clocks. Apple has also added some features that make the 4G Nano more compelling than its predecessors.

The fourth-generation iPod Nano’s speed and usability is better than ever, but its sound quality and rated battery life haven’t budged. Apple rates the battery of the fourth generation iPod Nano at 24 hours of audio playback and 4 hours of video. Apple does not seem motivated to intervene in the iPod’s sound quality or any new audio enhancement settings beyond its traditional slew of EQ presets.

Apple breathed fresh air into its line of Mac Mini, whose specifications have not changed since an update in August 2007. With this model for $ 599, Apple adds significantly improved Nvidia graphics, a new Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz, and a bigger hard drive. The Mac mini is still a distinctive feature of computer and has more than a few useful features.

Mac mini packs the complete Mac experience into a 6.5-inch-square computer. Just bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse. The Mac mini gets the rest, including an Intel Core 2 Duo up to 2.66GHz, up to 4GB memory and high-performance NVIDIA graphics. All in a power efficient design that uses less than 14 watts of power when idle – something no other desktop computer can do.

In terms of design, the case is made of the same aluminum housing and white plastic top, and the only minor differences in the rear panel are an additional USB port, a single FireWire 800 port, a Mini DVI input, and Mini DisplayPort input. What are the standard change is really important because it allows the Mac Mini support two screens for the first time, and the internal hardware is powerful enough to drive 30-inch, 2,560 x1, 600 LCD.

Beyond this, it is all in one, a Boxee Box, Apple TV, DVR, Entertainment center and as stated above, a completely proficient Macintosh computer. It may be cheaper, newer ways an event or possibly better to perform these tasks, but to my mule, a Mac Mini, an HDTV and a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse solves the living-room dilemma efficiently and elegantly.

At the moment, Apple’s 24-inch LED Cinema Display is the only monitor that will connect to a Mini DisplayPort input without an adapter. A mini-DVI to DVI single link adapter comes in the box to the Mac Mini, and Apple sells a variety of other adapters for both inputs, with prices ranging from $ 19 to $ 99.

Multi-touch first came to the iPhone and iPod touch, then the MacBook Pro, and now Apple is putting multi-touch into it’s latest mouse, the wireless Magic Mouse. The mouse has no scroll wheel in motion, only one button, which depending on how many fingers are on the mouse, perform different tasks.

The Magic Mouse is included with its new  iMac desktops, but you can purchase it separately for $69. Just don’t confuse it with the Mighty Mouse, because although they’re the same price, the differences end there. The Magic Mouse gets a face lift aerodynamics and also supports the implementation of touch sensitive gestures. New users should expect to spend some time to adjust to how close and “no buttons” design. We suspect that many Mac users will hail the Magic Mouse and its multitouch functionality as the first in the next generation of input devices.

The Magic Mouse has a very slim profile compared to other mice, even the Mighty Mouse before, only 0.75 inches tall. It is also designed for both left-and right hand users, and can be activated through the System Preferences.

At the bottom of the mouse uses laser tracking Magic on older optical technology, however, does not work on glass surfaces as new mice from Microsoft and Logitech. Also on the bottom surface has two plastic bars that minimize contact with the mousing surface and a switch on / off. Slide down a small plastic tab to access the battery compartment.

The multi-touch functionality covers the entire upper surface of the Magic Mouse. The gestures of wonderful work in all applications, especially with the boost activated functionality for the move. Drop the mouse and you’re beaten by the page, like an iPhone. Swiping two fingers left or right to move through pages in Safari or Firefox, and browse through album art in iTunes.

With Apple’s unibody MacBook Pro stealing the limelight it’s sometimes easy to forget that the white MacBook, which first went on sale way back in 2006, still exists. This demonstrates the power of the original design that Apple still considered a viable option and at that time as a single machine are very different, they are still only a small percentage of DNA with that. In fact, the DNA in both directions with the MacBook now comes with NVIDIA 9400M graphics chipset – the marked improvement in the integrated Intel graphics proposal – which first appeared in a coherent band.

MacBook Pro line now starts at $ 1,199 for the 13 basic. model with little more than express version will be $ 1499. That’s $ 100 less than the MacBook for, which preceded them. In the latest update, the bottom of the Pro models not only get the bumps on the processor speed, but also gain significant improvement in battery life, SD slot, one FireWire 800, improved LED-backlit display and, making his debut in a basic version of Apple’s highly regarded with backlit keyboard.

At first glance, the 13-in. MacBook Pro looks pretty much the same as the unibody MacBook it replaces. The ports, including the current standard Mini DisplayPort for external monitor, is still on the left side of the hull. Other than the Pro name and the addition of FireWire 800 and the SD card slot, not much has changed. This is a good thing, as the last model was one of the best-built laptops out there, thanks to the unibody manufacturing process Apple uses to carve these laptops out of solid chunks of aluminum.

The notebooks feel reassuringly solid and are relatively light, weighing in at 4.5 pounds. That’s a pound less than the 15-in. MacBook Pro and two pounds less than the 17-in. Pro, making them perfect for toting around in a backpack on campus or at work.

Apple iPod Touch third-generation version has arrived, flaunting 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities. The third-generation iPod Touch design is unchanged at all. Just like its phone-wielding sibling, the iPhone, the iPod Touch is a touch-screen device with a glass-covered 3.5-inch screen that sports a 480×320-pixel resolution. Despite its touchscreen interface, Apple includes some physical buttons, including a finer volume control on the left side, switch on the top and home buttons at the front of the player, which is below the screen. Lower edge of the Touch includes the same universal port docking station and 3.5 mm jack for headphones, as the previous model, drilling otherwise uninterrupted chrome steel extension that wraps the back and edges of the device.

The size and shape of The Touch also remained unchanged (4.3 cm high by 2.4 inches wide 0.33 inches), some flat glass front set in a curved steel support that is natural to hand but it makes the iPod a bit shaky, when installed on the table. The Touch is packed with Universal Dock Apple USB connector cable, a pair of white headphones, which include a microphone and a remote control on the cable, insert molding, and a universal base for use in any capacity or accessories speakers.

Out of the box, the third-generation iPod Touch includes an amazing music player, podcast support, video playback (including rental of iTunes and YouTube player), the Safari browser, photo viewer, e-mail reader (compatible with Outlook, Exchange, MobileMe, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL or POP E-Mail Service), integrated iTunes Store for music and video files, as well as many smaller utilities (weather, calendar, maps, stocks, notes, notes voice, clock, contacts, calendar and calculator). Provided become proficient with its touch-screen keyboard, the iPod Touch is more pocket PC than an MP3 player.

Video battery life is a tough one to test for the Touch or iPhone, so the player has been incorporated into the provision, interruption of video playback when the battery is low, forcing us to collect video playback on several occasions to assess the full measure of battery discharge video.