MacBook Air supplies almost one-third of Apple notebook sales
MacBook Air supplies almost one-third of Apple notebook sales: “
Though Mac sales have long been eclipsed by the sales of Apple’s mobile devices, the company is reportedly on track to break the 5 million Mac mark for the holiday quarter. A major factor in Apple’s sales growth is the svelte MacBook Air, which is slowly taking a larger part of Apple’s notebook sales and has lit a fire under Windows PC vendors who are scrambling to offer similar “ultrabook” machines.
While Apple still struggles with single digit marketshare globally among all PC vendors, sales of Macs have steadily increased over the last few years. Mac sales have outgrown the overall PC market for 32 consecutive quarters, and grown to 4.89 million units—a 26 percent year-over-year increase—in the most recent September quarter.
Read the comments on this post
“
(Via Infinite Loop.)
AViiQ Portable Laptop Stand – Worlds Thinnest and Lightest!
We at MacWorks, had never really thought of working or traveling with a laptop stand but after using the AViiQ Portable Laptop Stand we changed our mind. This beautifully designed and packaged product turned out to be one of the best products we’ve seen in 2011.
The stand itself folds and unfolds like a Japanese origami morphing between a quarter-of-an-inch thin piece of aluminum and a very “Apple like” high tech stand. You’ll never notice that it is in your laptop bag or case.
The construction, beside being very thin and lightweight, is amazingly rugged.
The best part of all is that this stand is on sale for a limited time, direct from the AViiQ website. Get is here:
Just use this special code:
10-TUV-03-MB-PC to get it. [Buy it here]
Dragon Dictate 2.0 for Mac — World-Class Dictation Software for A Reasonable Price
Earlier this year, Nuance Communications purchased the New Hampshire-based company MacSpeech. With that acquisition comes a brand-new version of MacSpeech called Dragon Dictate 2.0 for Mac. With the name change comes improved accuracy, faster performance, new editing commands and the ability to move the mouse on the screen with voice commands using a grid system. In addition, Dragon Dictate can perform commands on your Mac like opening applications, Spotlight searches and performing browser tasks like Google searches.
The software ships with either a standard headset or a wireless Bluetooth headset depending on which package you purchase. If you’d like to use your own headset, you can purchase and download the software directly from Nuance (although they do recommend using one of recommended microphones). Setup was extremely easy involving about 5 minutes of time to train the software to your voice. From there you can just begin dictating and start to learn commands on an as needed basis.
The software performs as promised with extremely fast and accurate speech to text. You can work on your Mac in a relaxed, hands-free environment without being tethered to your keyboard. If you have limited typing skills or just an average typist, this application can be a tremendous boost to your productivity. Dragon Dictate for Mac will work with Apple applications including Mail, iChat, iCal, Pages, Safari and many third party vendors.
We think this software is terrific and will be using it as part of our daily workflow. For further reference, here is a great review by David Pogue of the New York Times who has been following speech to text on the Mac for many years.
Dragon Dictate requires an Intel-based Mac with Snow Leopard 10.6 (only) and an Internet connection for registration. The software will work with a variety of microphones, but it is best to use the Plantronics optimized microphone that ships with the product.
You can order Dragon Dictate for the Mac at the Amazon Store for $199.99 (ships with the wired microphone) or Dragon Dictate for Mac – with Bluetooth Headset for $299. Owners of the previous MacSpeech product can upgrade for a reasonable. $49.99.
Put A Secure Password On Your iPad or iPhone? – Apple iPhone Configuration Utility
Put A Secure Password On Your iPad or iPhone – Profile Built With Apple iPhone Configuration Utility
Have you ever wished that the iPad, iPhone or Touch had better security than the four digit security code? A secure solution begins with a minimum six character alpa-numeric passcode.
With the Apple iPhone Configuration Utility we’ve built a profile that allows alphanumeric passcodes. All you have to do is open this link (on your iPad, iPhone or iTouch) and you will be prompted to pick a new passcode. Your passcode can be a mix of letters and numbers, with a minimum of six characters. The only restriction is you cannot use a consecutive order like “joe123″. You would have to do something such as “joe132.”
To remove this profile feature for longer passwords, go to your iPad, iPhone or iTouch Settings/General/Profiles/macworks/ then click remove and confirm. Next, change your passcode back to something numeric.
Of course, use at your own risk since it is possible to forget your password. If you do, you would need to reset your device. Happy security!
Google Search: Apple Certified Consulting – MacWorks of CT
We recently had some fun with the Google Search Stories and created this MacWorks vignette. Although we do not build websites, we can consult with you for products like Google AdWords and SEO Search Engine Optimization. With a small amount of investment, we can have your company ranking organically in Google in a high position (just like MacWorks!).
If you are looking for reliable, experienced, information technology professionals, MacWorks can help
We specialize in working with clients who have either migrated from the Windows platform or desire to use the Microsoft operating system interchangeably. MacWorks can setup and install Microsoft products so that you can use Apple Boot Camp or virtualization technology to successfully run both platforms
As a full service provider, we offer a wide variety of onsite and offsite backup solutions to make certain the your data is safe and secure. In the event of a data loss we offer data recovery services for Macs and PC’s. Additional information can be found at http://datarecovery-ct.com
My Holiday Treat – Intel X25 M 160GB Solid State Drive SSDSA2MH160G2R5
Intel X25M 160GB Mainstream Solid State Drive
Since about the beginning of 2009, I have been considering an SSD (solid state drive) to replace the internal drive on my first generation Unibody 2.4 15″ MacBook Pro (the one with the express card slot). At a price point approaching $500 for 160GB, I remained on the side lines waiting for a price drop that really never came.
Aluratek Filemate 48 GB Solid State Disk ExpressCard
About mid-year i purchased a Aluratek Filemate 48 GB Solid State Disk ExpressCard (at the time, it was called SolidGo Filemate…same product) through Amazon for a mere $140. I migrated my applications and operating system 10.6 to the Filmate and used that as my boot drive. My User folder still remained on the internal 2.5 SATA drive. This actually worked fabulously well and really improved my OS boot time and application load times. The downside was that I had been using drive cloning software (SuperDuper) as backup and now my OS and Apps were not backing up to the same image.
Intel X25M 160GB Mainstream Solid State Drive - shown in retrofit for 3.5 enclosure
Having been spoiled by this foray into the realm of SSD I decided to splurge this December and purchase an Intel X-25M G2 160GB drive from Amazon for $479. My basis for purchase came almost exclusively from AnnandTech.com and the article “The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD”. Since installing the SSD and trimming down my data to accommodate the smaller drive size, I have been very impressed. Launch times of applications are almost instantaneous and it’s like I have a brand new machine with an extremely fast processor. All in all, a worthy upgrade even at a $500 price point if efficiency and speed help your business run.
Photo Editing On Your Mac Without Breaking The Bank
If you are not in the graphic arts business and you looking for an image editor that is easier to use and less expensive, you should take a look at Pixelmator – $59.00 and the soon-to-be-released Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for Mac – $89.99.
Photoshop Elements 8 is scheduled for release on October 23, 2009 but you can pre-order it now from Amazon – click here. It combines some of the best features from the professional Photoshop package and makes them easier to use. Although previous versions of Elements have been missing key features found in Photoshop, this new version promises a much improved user experience. “Make your photos look extraordinary with editing options that let you whiten teeth and make skies bluer in one step; recompose photos to any size without distortion; quickly remove unwanted photo elements; combine multiple exposures into a single, perfectly lit shot; and more.”
Pixelmator has been a favorite recently among Mac enthusiasts for its innovative technology of using the computers graphics card (instead of the CPU ) for its processing. Pixelmator offers the core features of the $699 version of Photoshop with a layout which is very familiar to any Photoshop user (it even recognizes Photoshop keystroke combinations!). Pixelmator ships with tools, masks, layers, and several useful image filters. It has the ability to get most of your basic photo editing chores done and at a fraction of the cost. You can download a free trial from http://www.pixelmator.com and for a limited time, use the coupon code SMOKINGAPPLES for 20% off.
Both Pixelmator and Photoshop Elements are worthy of consideration. Pixelmator is not quite as feature rich as Elements but has a very Mac-ish feel with it’s polished interface. Since both applications are a minor cost investment compared to Photoshop, you couldn’t go wrong with either one.
Conclusion: If you have the financial resources and the time, then learn Adobe Photoshop. A great way is through an amazing video tutorial set called Photoshop CS4 One-on-One: Fundamentals by Deke McClelland.
You can get it from Amazon click here.
If you have a small budget or prefer a program that’s a bit easier to use then Pixelmator or Photoshop Elements 8 is your sure winner.
Straight Talk About Snow Leopard 10.6 – “Should You Upgrade?
Snow Leopard 10.6
As of this writing, Snow Leopard has been out approximately three weeks and we have been getting many questions regarding upgrading.
An important point to remember is that Snow Leopard 10.6, runs on Intel-based Macs only. Previous 10.5 “Leopard” release is the last version of Mac OS X which will support PowerPC-based systems.
10.6 is essentially a rewrite of the core operating and with a $29 price ($49 for 5-user family packs) Apple’s pricing is aggressive suggesting that they want users to upgrade
Some of the major benefits are as follows:
- Snow Leopard’s biggest benefit is the speed increases it gets, even on older Intel Macs
- The Dock and Menu Bar are enhanced so you can do more tasks with less effort
- If you are on an Exchange Server, you can now use Apple Mail intend of Microsoft’s Entourage
- The new Quicktime X will allow you to Record, Edit, and Publish Video Clips and Screencasts
- Putting Your Mac To Sleep and Waking from Sleep is much faster along with quicker Time Machine Backups
There is great article on Lifehacker called - Snow Leopard’s Four Best Improvements (for Civilians) – click here
Important! - Whenever you update, make sure you make a full bootable backup before updating.
CT Based PC & Mac Hard Drive Repair & Data Recovery
DataRecovery-CT: “We can recover your data”. Locally based business CT Hard Drive & Data Recovery in Madison, CT offers professional and reliable support throughout the entire Connecticut area. We are your local hard drive recovery experts and can help you find immediate solutions to recover your lost or damaged data.
CT Hard Drive & Data Recovery is a MacWorks division and offers over 18 years of experience working with PC and Mac hard drives. We are your local hard drive recovery experts, offering on-site support. and can help you find immediate solutions to recover your lost or damaged data. We recover data from Desktop Drives, Laptop Drives, External Drives, Servers, RAID Systems, Network Attached Storage Devices (NAS), Storage Area Network Devices (SAN), Flash Drives, and Camera Media.
Take a look at one of our recent success stories with the nice folks at 3 Pixels Design Group, testimonial found here.
To request a quote, you can email your information to
info@datarecovery-ct.com, or call 203-936-SAVE(7283) to speak with us regarding your specific data recovery needs.
New Mac Gadgets & Tips News Letter Signup – MacWorks CT
Almost every day some new device or creative way to use Macs arrives on the scene. To keep our customers and readers informed on the most interesting Apple Mac gadgets, tips and news, we’ve created a Mac newsletter, exclusively for anyone who chooses to sign up and elect to opt in. Click here to Join our list.
MacWorks is part of the Apple Consultants Network. We provide full service technical support and assistance to Apple and Macintosh clients who are looking for reliable, experienced, information technology professionals. Conveniently located in Madison, CT we can be reached Monday-Saturday, 8:30AM – 6:00PM — (203) 285-6405 or (800) 700-1673 — Urgent requests for help are returned 7 days a week.