NAS Storage for Macintosh

For a long time now I have been listening to and researching various discussions about suitable Network Attached Storage devices (NAS) for the Apple Mac. Well, stepping up the chase for information I came across this offering from Iomega (long time fan).

The Iomega StorCenter looks very interesting indeed and quote Mac compatibility. From the Iomega website... "The Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drives provide a central location for sharing and protecting your data (up to 500 GB) across your home or small office network. Without adding the cost and complexity of a server, you can now share and store your critical files, photos, music and video from any standard or wireless computer."

• 500 GB capacity (2x 250 GB)
• 2 host USB 2.0 for printer sharing and.capacity expansion
• RAID 0 (striping) and 1 (data mirroring)

Link to product.

Pinnacle Announces Enhanced Podcast Factory

Pinnacle Systems today announced the availability of an enhanced version of Pinnacle Podcast Factory, which includes localised and easy-to-use software for recording and editing podcasts, adding music, and creating and publishing MP3 files with RSS feeds. This complete solution to create great-sounding audio podcasts also includes a localised video tutorial, all in a brand new packaging design.

“According to FeedBurner, nowadays there are more podcasts than radio stations worldwide, with more than 60,000 podcast feeds and a growing podcast circulation at a rate of nearly 20% per month.” said David Barnby, Vice President Sales and Marketing for EMEA. “This shows that many people are eager to communicate with the world, but the primary obstacle has been the relative complexity of putting together the different pieces of hardware and software required to produce and distribute a professional-quality recording. Pinnacle Podcast Factory removes this barrier.”

Pinnacle Podcast Factory is powered by M-Audio, another leading brand from Avid. M-Audio is renowned for its music creation products on which professional recording studios have been relying for years. Pinnacle Podcast Factory is an all-in-one hardware/software solution compatible with both PC and Mac, and includes:

· Broadcast-quality microphone and professional 24-bit/48kHz USB audio interface for making top-notch recordings of voice and live music
· Audacity software, to easily record and edit podcasts and create radio-style productions that integrate speech, music and sound effects, simply by dragging and dropping
· Podifier software, a simple to use application that automates the creation of an RSS feed, processes the MP3 files, and uploads them to a server
Localised video tutorial in 6 languages and 16 tutorials (pdf)

Price & Availability
Pinnacle Podcast Factory will be available from mid September through the Pinnacle Website at www.pinnaclesys.com and at most major retailers and e-tailers such as www.amazon.co.uk and www.dabs.com. It carries an SRP of £99.99.

We hope to bring you a review of this package, check back soon.

Clever advertising photos at sherbsblog

Surfing is great when you stumble across things like this. Head on over to sherbsblog and there are a small selection of really interesting advertising photos. My pick of the punch head up this post.

Design a Logo Competition

Things are hotting up so quickly here at Geekanoids that we need some sort of identity. I thought it would be a great idea to throw this open to our readers, with so many talented Photoshop users out there, I am sure someone will make a lot better job of things than I ever would.

So, we are looking for a new logo to head up the website, it can be any colour, shape (although I do like blue) and would be used for the website, email and written communications and other branding activity.

Please check below for the rules, guidelines and how to enter the competition.

1. The logo design should be your own work.
2. Submissions should be in JPEG format, no bigger than 400K initially. These should be emailed along with your contact details to geekanoids@gmail.com
3. The design should lend itself to be used in full colour and also single (monochrome) colour.
4. If your design is chosen as the winner the logo work should be available as a high resolution EPS file that will be OK to print up to A3 size or bigger, so please take this into consideration when putting your design together.
5. You will be given full credit for creation of the logo.
6. By submitting the design, you accept that if your design wins, full ownership and copyright of the design becomes the property of Wiki Design, the publisher of Geekanoids.
7. You agree to supply the high resolution version upon request.
8. There is no money or prize offered for this competition, just the fame and credit for being a design genius :-)
9. Geekanoids reserve the right to cancel the competition at any time.
10. We cannot guarantee a response to all entries, although we will try.
11. The editors decision is final and no communication will be entered into to discuss the decision.
12. Closing date for entries is 30th September 2006.

Yojimbo review coming soon

The kind people at Bare Bones Software have supplied us with a full version of their Yojimbo software to review. In the next week or so we will bring you an introductory review, followed by a long term review about six weeks later. We thought that introducing a long term review to our site for certain applications and products would be useful to our readers, as it will give you an initial insight into the product, followed by a real in-depth look later on that should let you know if it is worth 'splashing your cash'.

Link to Yojimbo.

Wake up in style !

I have been saving my pennies for on of those flashy iPod dock alarm clocks for a while now, but now I have stumbled across Aurora I may well just use my Mac. This natty little (FREE) app allows you to set alarms and wake up to a song or selection of songs stored in your iTunes library. You can set which playlist, time and date, volume and a whole host of other options.

Link to Aurora.

iTunes or Spiral Frog - you decide ?

Could this be a new rival to iTunes? Well, I doubt it as we know very little about what Spiral Frog will have to offer by way of artists, compatibility and terms of services, but it certainly looks interesting.

The idea behind the site, which is due to launch in December 2006, is that tracks will be free, with everything funded by advertising.

From their website: "New York, August 29, 2006; SpiralFrog, the new music download destination, has signed an agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's leading music company, to make UMG's extensive catalog available for legal downloading in the US and Canada via SpiralFrog's advertising-supported service.SpiralFrog will offer users of its no-cost web-based service the ability to legally download music by many of the world's most popular and award-winning artists."

All sounds very interesting, to keep up-to-date on developments head over the Spiral Frog's website.

New fresh look for Geekanoids

After a busy night getting things all in place and looking sweet, we have moved away from the old green and orange look to the fresh new look that you see now. I hope you like it and continue to visit Geekanoids for all the latest tech, gadget and Mac related news.

FileMaker Pro 8.5 at Mac Expo 2006

Head on down to the London Mac Expo between 26th - 28th October. As well as a plethora of Macinotsh goodness, The FileMaker Business Solutions Village returns to MacExpo and will be of particular interest to small businesses looking for solutions to track everything from digital images to product deliveries. Come and see the NEW! FileMaker 8.5. Learn how to add the Web Viewer to your solutions and add 'live' information to your database records.
In addition to getting a guided tour of FileMaker 8.5, visitors to the Business Solutions Village will have the opportunity to meet a number of FileMaker Developers, software professionals and publishers who will demonstrate their business solutions and industry specific packages. FileMaker Developers are also able to build effective and bespoke solutions for small businesses whatever business sector they operate in.

Battery woes for so many !

I suspect that many of you have already seen on the news about Dell recalling over 4 million of their laptop batteries. It seems that these came out of the same Sony manufacturing plant that supplies the likes of Lenovo, HP and Apple. Links to specific pages at the end of this article.

Apple have now recalled 1.8 million batteries from certain 12-inch iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and 15-inch PowerBook G4 laptops. The procedure is simple, fill in a form and Apple will send you a replacement battery in about 4-6 weeks, you then use the same packaging and prepaid label to ship your old battery back.

Dell and HP offer similar replacement procedures, though I could not test the exact procedure as I did not have the relevant details to enter on their website. I could not find anything on the Lenovo website about this.

Link to Apple Battery Recall.
Link to HP Battery Recall.
Link to Dell Battery Recall.

5.1 Surround Sound Anyone?

When I first saw details of the Griffin Firewave I almost wet my pants, I would have paid a lot more (don't tell anyone) for such a device. It took a long time materialising, but it is finally here.

Griffin Technology Inc., announced today that they have begun shipping FireWave, their affordable 5.1 Surround Sound solution for Macintosh. Price is US $99.99 which will probably equate to £80 or so.

FireWave extends to Mac users the ability to affordably and effectively upgrade their sound systems by way of their FireWire ports — with spectacular results.

FireWave's small size makes it easy to incorporate into any computer setup, and makes it portable enough for use with laptops. FireWave gets its power through the FireWire connection, so there are no separate cables, batteries, or power supplies to tote. FireWave's extra FireWire port lets you daisy-chain other FireWire devices, so it won't hog your FireWire port.

FireWave lets you enjoy Dolby Digital encoded DVDs in 5.1 surround, or use Dolby Prol Logic II to make any audio source alive, whether from iTunes, QuickTime, or streaming audio. In addition, FireWave’s support of multi-channel playback from cross-platform OpenAL games like World of Warcraft and Unreal Tournament make it a must-have for gamers.

Technical Specifications:
Complies with IEEE1394 specification
Sample Rates supported:
32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz and 96kHz playback in MBLA mode (non-Dolby)
32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz in Dolby Pro Logic II
48kHz Encoded Digital in Dolby Digital
Outputs: 6-Channel, 24-bit
Frequency Response: (-3dBr, 24-bit 48kHz input) = < 20Hz – 20kHz
Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 100dB
Powered by the Oxford Semiconductor FW970

Link to product.

Could this be a Nano killer?

So, you all know by now that I am an Apple fanboy, but credit where credit is due to Sandisk, for one-upping on the Nano by introducing an 8Gb capacity Sansa e280 MP3 player.

The pricing is pretty good too, with it coming in the same as a 4Gb Nano. I have heard good vibes about this player and although it is not iTunes friendly, the Mac should be able to see it as a removable device, so drag and drop of files would be possible. Plus you get a superb screen, movie and photo support, FM tuner with recording, voice recording, pouch, lanyard, need I go on...

No promises, but I hope to be able to get a unit and report back on its' click wheel, build, usability and other qualities soon.

From the Sandisk website: "The Sansa e200 Series MP3 players are the flagship products of SanDisks audio line. Created by the leaders in flash memory, this flash-based player provides everything you need for music, photo, and video clip playback".

World’s first 8GB Flash MP3 player, the largest capacity in the market
Sleek, thin design with large 1.8” TFT color screen for easy viewing
Strong alloy metal back casing provides excellent durability and scratch resistance
Simple to use, backlit controls for fast device interface navigation
User replaceable and rechargeable Lithium Ion battery for up to 20 hours of battery life
Includes the Sansa Media Converter to support all picture and video formats
Features microSD™ expansion slot for additional memory capacity
Supports SanDisk TrustedFlash and Gruvi content cards
Digital FM tuner, on-the-fly FM recording, and voice recording
Supports Subscription Music Stores

Link to product.