Last week at the IDF 2009 Conference in San Francisco, Intel unveiled a new next-generation data transfer technology dubbed Light Peak. It’s basically an optical subsystem comprised of lasers, modules and probably the odd Flux Capacitor here and there. The outcome is transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps. (By comparison, the upcoming USB 3.0 standard [...]
As someone who has played with the betas of the iPhone 3.0 OS, I was excited to see the availability of tethering that would allow me to share the internet connection between my iPhone and my Mac. With 3.0 around the corner, the feature is coming, but not in the United States.
DisplayPort got a big boost as a video connection standard when Apple decided to use it across its entire notebook line.
Of course, being Apple, they couldn’t use it as is, and instead introduced the Mini DisplayPort version, which was more compact, and, sadly, would also require special adapters to be purchased by MacBook owners. Now [...]
There’s pretty universal consensus in the Mac portable community that Apple jumped the gun in dropping FireWire support from the new unibody MacBooks, with nothing adequate to replace its full functionality. Sure, you can transfer and backup files reasonably efficiently over a USB 2.0 connection, but you can’t boot your Mac (at least conveniently and [...]
Today, Creative announced yet another addition to their venerable Sound Blaster line of products. The device had its debut not at Macworld, but at CES, which, I might remind some of those with Apple tunnel vision, is going on right now in Las Vegas. While desert grit isn’t normally great for electronics, CES is, and [...]
Apple’s decision to not equip the new unibody MacBook with a FireWire port has been as popular as the proverbial skunk at a garden party, at least with seasoned Mac users. Aside from the MacBook Air, which suffers from manifold deficiencies in the I/O department, the last Apple portable that shipped without FireWire was the [...]
Targus, a company more popularly associated with its extensive line of laptop cases, also markets computer accessories. One of their newer introductions is the Targus USB 2.0 4-Port Bend-A-Hub, a modestly-priced, useful add-on and an excellent gift suggestion or stocking stuffer for computer users on your Christmas list.
This hub allows you to connect up to [...]
My enthusiastic use and promotion of Growl should come as no surprise to regular readers of The Apple Blog. While some dismiss it as an annoyance reminiscent of the Windows notification popups, others — like myself – view it as a way be informed without stopping what I am currently doing (and that is definitely [...]
Apple’s decision to axe FireWire from the MacBook line is not sitting well with many users, to say the least. For high-quality audio and video transfers, FireWire is the standard for professionals and hobbyists alike. Though USB is technically capable of faster transfer speeds than FireWire 400 (480 Mb/s vs. 400), FireWire has greater effective [...]
One of the ports included with all the new (and previous generation of) MacBook Pros is an ExpressCard slot. Having never had this type of expansion before, I’ve decided to have a look around and see what uses it can serve. This article will give a brief overview of some of the most popular ExpressCard [...]
Much is being made of the lack of FireWire in the new MacBooks. Seems like everyone’s weighed in on this topic, myself included.
Even more recently, an email response to one irate customer set off more controversy. In this email, Steve Jobs himself is alleged to have responded:
Actually, all of the new HD camcorders of the [...]
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