Tuesday Tech Talk #51

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Tuesday Tech Talk. Quite a few things to cover this week so lets dive right in.

Mac mini Updated

Apple released an updated Mac mini. Two new welcome features in it, an HDMI port for connecting to an HDTV and easy access to updating the RAM. It comes in 2 flavors, a $699 model and a $999 server model which sports 2 500GB SATA hard drives. One has to wonder if this will spell the end of the AppleTV since the mini now has an HDMI port.

Starbucks to offer free WiFi

Starbucks announced that as of July 1st all company owned locations will offer free WiFi! If your favorite Starbucks is franchised owned then you may or may not be in luck.

ESPN in 3D

ESPN officially launched their 3D service with the start of the World Cup. If you happen to have a 3D capable TV and receiver box via your cable or satellite company, then you to can have soccer balls flying toward your head. I do not as of yet and quite frankly am not into the whole 3D thing yet, in-fact I have not even seen Avatar yet. Engadget has an interview with Chuck Pagano ESPN’s executive VP of technology regarding the 3D launch.

Navigon and Multitasking

Navigon has submitted their popular Navigator GPS app to Apple that will support multitasking with the release of the iOS4 yesterday. No more worries of getting a call while you have a key turn coming up in a town you don’t know. Also you can check email or something on the web while still staying on track with your route. This is going to come in great as Mrs. TupeloGeek and I will be on vacation in Pensacola Beach this weekend and driving down there.

Steve Jobs All Things Digital Talk

Available in iTunes is the Steve Jobs interview at the D8 conference. He talks about several interesting things such as the feud with Adobe over Flash, how he suggests the era of the PC as a platform could be ending sooner than we think, and how the idea of the tablet device came before the iPhone. Very interesting talk and worth the 90 minutes.

Blogging and the iPad

Finally I want to give a little follow up regarding my use of the iPad and how it relates to blogging. There are 2 great blogging apps out there, BlogPress and WordPress. At this point I am giving the edge to WordPress if you use WordPress for your blogging. But here is my beef with both of them. I want to be able to highlight some text in my blog and create a link like I do with MacJournal on the MacBook. This is the missing element in blogging from the iPad. Who ever comes up with that first, will get a nice write up from me on a future Triple T.

Well that will do it for this edition of Triple T. See you all next week for #52!

Tuesday Tech Talk #17

Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Triple T. This will be a post more about today’s Apple product announcements then anything else.

New iMac’s

Two models announced today, a 21.5“ display and a 27” one, with a 1920 x 1080 display for the 21.5 and a 2560 x 1440 for the 27“ with 16:9 ratio on both for true HD experience. Also RAM expandable up to 16GB and 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor or 3.33GHz. As well as a Quad-Core version for the 27” model. All come with a 1TB HD. 21.5“ starts at $1499 and the 27” is $1699, the Quad-Core at $1999.

New MacBook

In the new unibody design but the same familiar snow white finish to it. 1.08“ thin and 4.7 lbs. Sporting a 7 hour battery life on a single charge. Also has a Multi-Touch trackpad. Comes with 2GB of RAM expandable to 4, 2.26 Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and a 250GB 5400 RPM HD with an option for 320GB or 500GB 5400 RPM HD. Same $999 price point.

New Mac mini

In the latest configuration of the Mac mini we have a 2.26, 2.53, or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors. 2GB SO-DIMMs expandable to 4GB and 160, 320, or 500GB Serial ATA hard drive options. One Firewire 800 and five USB 2.0 ports. 2 configurations available, a 2.26 GHz with 160GB HD for $599 or a 2.53 GHz and 320GB HD for $799 and also a Mac mini server with a 2.53 and 500GB model for $999 (no optical drive).

Magic Mouse

Yes at last the Mighty Mouse is dead, no not the cartoon character but the one made by Apple. Replaced with the built from the ground up Magic Mouse which if you own a iPhone or iPod touch, will feel very familiar to you on operating it. It has a multi-touch surface to it and is included with the above mentioned new iMac’s and as a stand alone price of $69 (yes, I have bought one already for the iMac at home). It connects via Bluetooth and it is if I made me so bold one sexy design.

Engadget unboxing Photos

Want to see more? Engadget has unboxing photos of the MacBook, iMac and Magic Mouse.

Barnes & Noble announces the nook e-reader

B&N has a competitor to the Kindle now. It’s available for pre-order at $259. I’m still going to hold out for the much rumored Mac tablet and see what it will bring to the e-reader market.

Well that’s it for this week’s Triple T, sorry no time for app reviews this week. See you all next week in this same space!

Tuesday Tech Talk #14

Hey folks it’s Tuesday so time for another installment of Triple T!

AT&T MMS for iPhone

Ok so it’s finally here after more then 2 years of waiting for it on the iPhone, MMS. All I can say is I can’t wait for AT&T to add Tupelo to 3G cause the last part of sending the photo hangs for a good minute. I’m convinced this is an EDGE/2G issue more than anything else but if anyone else has 3G and notice it is hanging on the last part as well let me know. Hey AT&T, Thursday is October 1st and you said 3G in Tupelo by the end of the year, you’ve got 3 months to make good on your promise there blue Death Star. This now concludes Rob’s weekly griping about all things AT&T, remember when Comcast was the ire of my venting?

Comcast props

Let me expand on that while I’m at it. You may recall I use to have a terrible internet experience with Comcast almost to the point where I was looking at AT&T DSL plans (the horror!!). Well I am happy to say nearly 3 months since Comcast routed a new line from the pole to my house I have had zero drops on the internet now. As someone that works with DirecTV, Comcast I’m giving you 2 thumbs up and taking you off my tech enemies list, AT&T you have the top spot right now, yes even over Microsoft.

Latest Apple Tablet speculation

MacRumors has some new tidbits via iLounge about features the new tablet may feature as well as a possible late Spring release (May or June). Interesting features but if you already have an iPhone or touch it may not be of much use besides having the bigger screen it will pretty much be the iPhone OS it runs on. But check out the articles if interested.

iMac and Mac mini supplies running low...update near?

Apple has informed it’s retail outlets of constrained iMac and Mac mini shipments leading to speculation of new updated iMac and mini lines. There has been heavy speculation about iMac and MacBook but not mini updates.

Tweetie 2 near...but with a cost

Our friends at TUAW report on a new Tweetie 2 for the iPhone and iPod touch with some new features but there is a catch...this one will have a $2.99 price tag on it and even if you have version 1 your still going to have to pony up the $3 for the new version which stinks. Maybe Tweetie is taking business lessons from AT&T. Guess I will be using Twitterrific 2, at least they were honest from the start about their cost and when they made a substantial update in version 2 didn’t charge for it. Shame on you Tweetie...shame!

Well thats about it, sorry but no iPhone/touch app reviews this week. Just haven’t really tried anything new this week. See you next week though for another Tuesday Tech Talk.