Radtech have today launched their new DriveMate device, a USB storage device that offers 2GB or 8GB of storage capacity in a very neat and compacy package. Standard and 64-Bit encrypted models are available ranging from $74.95 to $144.95. The integral USB cord makes this device ideal for laptop use, when plugged in it does not get in the way of other ports. It is also extremely thin, so very portable. It has not yet made its way onto the UK site Radius Vision, though I suspect it is only a matter of time.
Apple's Bold 2007 Statement
With MacWorld 2007 just around the corner, Apple have made a very bold statement on the front page of their US website. The statement reads "The first 30 years were just the beginning. Welcome to 2007." Such a simple but strong statement sends chills down your spine and just makes for even more excitement and anticipation about next weeks announcements.
MacWorld 07 Geekanoids Expectations
MacWorld 2007 is almost upon us and I for one am looking forward so much to what Steve Jobs will announce. Here are my predictions of what I expect to see (and what won't happen) next week;
- There will be no Apple iPhone. It will happen one day, but not this January.
- There will be no changes to the MacBook or MacBook Pro.
- The iTV final details and name will be revealed, available to order now, shipping by the end of January.
- Leopard final details and £99 pricing announced, order now, shipping 1st February.
- Mac Mini will get the Intel Core 2 Duo upgrade, plus a small price drop.
- ...and one more thing, new Cinema Displays with built-in iSight.
- ...and one more thing, yes saving the biggest announcement until last. The new true Video iPod, with touch sensitive buttons on the side of the unit and a full 4-inch widescreen.
Happy New Year from Geekanoids
Dear Readers, just a quick post to say a very big Happy New Year ! to you all. Thank you all for your kind support and for taking the time to read the reviews and articles on Geekanoids. You, the readers, are the most important element of this website, so keep coming back throughout 2007 for some great reading material. Thanks again and I hope you all have a brilliant 2007 (and beyond).
Grundig Phusio 27-inch HDTV £399
This Grundig Phusio LCD HDTV seems like a pretty well specced unit. Not a big big name player when it comes to the Samsung, Toshiba, Sony and Pioneers of this world, but when I saw this, I just felt I had to share the details.
Head on over to the Grundig website and you can pick up this 27-inch screen (model GUVLDHD2700) for just under £400 (down from £699.99). It has integrated Freeview with 7-day electronic programme guide, 1280x720 resolution, nice and bright at 550cd/m2 and a respectable 600:1 contrast. Viewing angles are quoted at 170 degrees on both axis which is also good. Most impressive is the inclusion of an HDMI socket to accompany the twin SCART sockets. This is a real bargain price for a set with this sort of connectivity and well worth checking out.
Geekanoids launch Mac Support Forum
OK, so I know that I should be spending today getting ready for the New Year celebrations, but this quiet time is the only chance I get to develop some new things for Geekanoids.
Over the past year we have had a lot of readers email in for support. Always happy to help, personal emails fly back and forth. The natural progression was to set up a Support Forum, so that is what I have done today.
Click on this link and it will take you to the home page on the Forum, where you can post in the many categories. If you are looking for help, or willing to offer a solution, or perhaps you want to discuss one of the articles or reviews you have seen here, then the Forum is the place to go.
At the moment it is set up on a free service, but if it proves popular I will look to move it onto a private server. For now though, it is a great way to share and join the Geekanoids community. Enjoy !
Click this link to go to the Geekanoids Forum.
Highs & Lows in Apple Land 2006
With 2006 drawing to a close very soon, I thought it would be nice to share with you my thoughts on the Highs and Lows in the world of Apple over the past year.
There has been so many positive things for us all to enjoy, that I think I will get the few 'Lows' out of the way first, starting with Microsoft's Media Player for Mac. I know a lot of users hated it, but at least if Microsoft had kept developing it may have turned into something worthwhile. Flip4Mac has filled the gap with support for playing Windows Media files from within Quicktime, so all is not lost.
The stock options fiasco for many companies, found its way over to Apple, with them doing their own investigation. This has since come to the news pages again, with the Financial Times reporting that Steve Jobs himself "was handed 7.5m stock options in 2001 without the required authorisation from the company’s board of directors, according to people familiar with the matter." Let us hope that Apple sort things out and get back on the straight and narrow for 2007.
The PowerPC is no more and whilst many are singing praise of the new Intel based Macs, many were raged at the end of the PowerPC chips. I suppose this can be put down to a comfort-zone, where we became so at-one with the G5 and G4 range of Macs that change scared a lot of people (myself included).
On a more positive note, so many good things happened for us all in 2006, to start with the release of new iMacs, MacBooks, and MacBook Pros. Yes, at first I was scared about the move to Intel, but these new models that sport the Intel Core Duo (and now the Core2Duo) chip are fantastic. The MacBook Pro was just an update with a processor change, the iMac much the same, but the new MacBook is really cool. It offers a nice form-factor, excellent performance, built-in iSight and much more besides. It makes me really look forward to what Apple might do next with the MacBook Pro, maybe a redesign is on the cards.
Parallels, Boot Camp and VMWare just made my day. These new software technologies allow you to run Windows and/or Windows applications on your Mac. Each solution takes a slightly different approach, but the end result is pretty much the same. For myself, I do not need to or intend to run Windows on my Mac, I am more than happy with OS X, but for those that would not consider a Mac because they need to run a particular Windows application, well now they have no excuse... which leads me nicely to my next comment.
Apple are selling more Macs than ever, which I think is really a lot to do with the switch to Intel processors. MacBook sales alone are going really well, with this keenly priced 13.3-inch laptop finding its way into many peoples homes. The whole range of Macs has now transitioned over to the Intel processor and this leaves 2007 open for some very interesting new releases and updates.
Adobe is coming along nicely too, with Universal versions of Acrobat and just recently the beta version of PhotoShop CS3. Earlier in the year Quark gave us a Universal version of Xpress, so the main design applications can now really run at full speed. The software transition really has been smooth, with nothing really for anyone to complain about.
2007 is going to be good, we can expect the next version of the OS (Leopard) in January, possibly accompanied by a new iPod, maybe an updated Mac Mini and later in the year the much rumoured Apple mobile phone, iTV, and hopefully some sort of touch screen based portable Mac. Wow, what a year 2006 has been, and what a year we have to look forward too in 2007. Thanks Apple, and thanks Steve.
iLink plus modified iPod launched
MSB Technology today launched its iLink, a combination of dock and modification to your iPod, which promises a true digital audio output and improved sound...
The iLink "is the world’s only iPod docking station that offers a true digital audio output. This is done by modifing the iPod to allow digital audio to be sent to the iLink and output via toslink optical, coaxial or balanced AES/EBU format. With this output, audiophiles can transform their iPods into a high-end source and achieve sound reproduction on a par with a good CD transport. The iLink comes with an RF transmitter that allows the iPod to be moved around the listening room while still maintaining the best audio quality available."
The iLink costs $1995 which includes the iPod modification, or it can be bought as a package supplied with a pre-modified iPod. This is a lot of money to invest, but I am sure some audiophiles will be tempted.
PS3 Owners trade in for Wii
Reported over at Gigagamez, hungry for fun PS3 owners, who queued for hours to pick up their PS3, are now trading in their beloved consoles for a Nintendo Wii. The research, carried out on craigslist.org showed an astonishing 48 different PS3-for-Wii trades going on in San Francisco alone. My theory on this is the lack of good PS3 titles, coupled with so many reports of gamers having so much fun playing Wii Sports, Wii Play, Rayman, and of course Zelda.
The Inside Story of the iPod
One to watch out for, the Discovery Channel is showing a new documentary all about the the iPod. "The iPod Revolution goes behind the scenes to uncover how Steve Jobs brought Apple back from the grave to create one of the most popular electronics devices ever made: the iPod."
It has already shown, so I hope I am not giving you the news too late to pick up a repeat. Keep an eye on your channel listings or if you know where to (legally) download it.
Zipeg V.1.2.1 Released
Zipeg version 1.2.1 is now available. I was surprised when I stumbled upon Zipeg, at just how handy this small utility would prove to be. This application "is free Macintosh file utility for Mac OS X, that allows you to open and explore content of zip, rar and other types of archives quickly and easily, preview files and images before you extract them. Than you can unzip or drag and drop the files you really want." It really is that simple, but very very useful. It is freeware and available to download here. You can also make donations to the author.
FileJuicer V.4.7.1 Released
Echo One has released FileJuicer version 4.7.1. This little application has many features and allows you to extract images from various file and folder types. For example from a PowerPoint slide show, PDF files. You can also recover images and video from erased flash cards, and text from damaged files. It does a lot more than I have mentioned here, so head on over to the Echo One website to check out the full list of features. FileJuicer is available to download and try, or to buy for $12.95.