Apple music event 1 sept - quick thoughts

Just watched the jobs-note, and here are some quick off-the-cuff thoughts regarding the new product announcements.

Once the reality distortion field disappears and the Apple hype fades off, proper judgment sets in and I must say that the event was nothing fantastic or revolutionary. All the announcements were evolutionary updates to already very good products. And Apple's appetite for smaller thinner iPods continue to drastic levels - it's the whole form over function thing.

Image from Apple

iPod shuffle:
The new 4th gen shuffle looks almost exactly like the 2nd gen, except that it is now smaller. Clearly the button-less design of the 3rd gen wasn't well-received. The new shuffle also gains the voiceover technology from the 3rd gen, plus genius mixes.

The nice thing to note though is how unbelievably cheap the shuffle is - S$78 for 2GB. Nice, but uh - nothing to get wild over.

Image from Apple

iPod nano:
This is perhaps the most interesting release. Apple has repositioned this product slightly, making it solely a music player. The video capabilities and video camera have been removed - Apple has moved it up to the iPod touch (more on that later.) Firstly, the click wheel has disappeared, making way for a 240px 1.5-inch square multi-touch screen with a UI similar to iOS. Because it is so crazily minute now, it also gains a clip like the shuffle. Gone also are notes, calendar, contacts and games that were present in other generations.

Some people will make noise that video function is gone, but I think it isn't that big a loss anyway. Who really did enjoy watching video on the small screen of the previous nanos? Apple is clearly pushing consumers who want video over to the iPod touch, and the nano now just does what it does best - music. The loss of calendaring, notes and contacts is also no biggie - we all have our phones to handle that. To replace the loss functionality, Apple has included an FM radio with live pause, a pedometer, Nike+ and a whopping 24 hour battery life. Pricing is also very attractive, but the storage still caps at 16GB.

Image from Apple

iPod touch:
Uh, nothing much to say here as well. Basically, the iPod touch gains most of the new features of the iPhone 4 to keep it up-to-date. Yes retina display, FaceTime, HD video recording, A4 processor, 3 axis gyro.. yada yada, all the good stuff the iPhone 4 has basically. The concept of the iPod touch remains the same - it is still an iPhone without the phone. And Apple is also marketing its gaming prowess by adding Game Centre, a social gaming network. All in all, the best iPod touch so far.

But I'm sad!!! Because of the addition of TWO cameras, I can't bring it to camp! Bad news for all army people. But I'm happy with my current iPod touch, it's good enough.

iTunes 10 sidepane - Apple likes it grey.

iTunes 10:
Ahh this is where I have to bitch a little. I don't like the new UI changes to iTunes! As usual, to visually separate version 10 from other versions, Apple gave the UI a spit shine. Firstly, there's a new blue-ish iTunes icon (do we really need a new icon apple?) which still looks fine. But launch iTunes and EEKS! Why is everything so dull, muted and grey now! The coloured icons on the left navigation pane have been replaced with greyscale versions, the volume slider has changed again, and on the mac the three window buttons (expand, min and maximise) has been weirdly placed into a vertical column. I just don't get it... it's so clear these changes are done just because it's a new version.

Apart from the UI nonsense, iTunes 10 adds a new social network platform called ping. I see this as playing catch-up to the zune social. I don't care too much about it frankly. Overall, iTunes still remains largely as it is - don't let the new icon fool you it's still the same old program.

To sum it all up, still the same one word - evolutionary. But I don't think that's bad, it just means the iPod line-up is near perfect. (Apple, why don't you focus on the Apple TV and make it something more than "another hobby"?)

iPad quick thoughts

The Apple iPad is a device which bridges the gap between the iPhone and a laptop. In many ways it's a glorified iPod touch. I think it's way too early to judge if the iPad is a success or not. I don't know if it will be a game changer. All we can do is wait and see first.

As of now, if you're entertaining the notion of purchasing this at first launch (i.e. 2 months from now), I discourage you from doing so. Clearly, this is still a version 1.0 product that needs refining. We aren't even sure if we really need it. I'm not sure if I could actually use this as a netbook replacement. After all, there's no flash support, no multi-tasking, web cam... yada yada.

As much as Apple calls it a new class of device, the truth is that the iPad will compete head on with the saturated netbook market. The iPad's aggressive pricing implies this. So the first question that I ask is whether the iPad can do what most people do on netbooks. Now as much as Apple says netbooks suck/is not the solution, the truth is that it is wildly successful, and because of its success surely the netbook can't be all wrong. It is successful because it offers full laptop capabilities in a cheap and compact form-factor. In my view, if the iPad is going to be a huge success like the iPhone was, it has to do what the netbook does, and do it 10 times better. If not, then I think it makes little sense for people to get the iPad in addition to a netbook. It just complicates life to have to manage another device.

So to me the real question is this: can the iPad replace a netbook? If no, then I won't get it. I don't want to be managing my iPhone, netbook, laptop AND my iPad. It's just too much technology for me.

Apple unlikely to do a netbook

Will Apple be launching a new netbook soon? I mean, almost every major computer manufacturer has one in its line-up. HP has the Mini 1000, Asus has the Eee PC, Acer has the Aspire One, Lenovo has the S10, Dell has the Mini 9, MSI has the Wind... you get the idea. Netbooks are the hottest computing trend now.

Sad to say, Apple is unlikely to jump on the bandwagon soon. It will not be releasing a MacBook mini or a netbook similar to what's on the market now.

Why is this so? Tim Cook, chief operating officer of Apple, said at a recent financial results conference call that "we're watching that space, but from our [point of view] the products are based on hardware that's much less powerful, software technology that's not good, cramped displays. We don't think that people are going to be pleased with those type of products. It's a category we watch, we have some ideas here, but we think the products there now are inferior and won't provide the kind of experience people want."

There you go, question answered. I don't think we will see any low-cost, mini laptop from Apple this year!

Apple Notebook Event - Summary

Image from Apple

On the 14 October, as anticipated by rumour websites, Apple held a small event at Cupertino to unveil their next generation of notebook computers. These new notebooks are mind blowing... but boy I wasn't at all surprised, because the rumours were dead accurate and I knew so much prior to the event! These days the rumour mill is so unbelievably accurate that it destroys the excitement when the product actually launches... it was the same for the iPod event.

But as suspiciously accurate as the rumours were, not all rumours came true. Apple did not release a tablet notebook, and neither did they decide to venture into the hot netbook market. But hey it's not as if I really expected them to... for the longest time ever there were rumours of a tablet, but time and time again this rumour proves to be just baloney.

So Apple introduced a new MacBook and MacBook Pro and gave hardware upgrades to the MacBook air.

The event started off with Mr Tim Cook's presentation on 'State of the Mac', giving a general overview of the Mac's incredible uptake rate and crazy-good sales. He reported that with several quarters in a row, Apple grew above market rate by two to three times.

Accounting for this trend, he cites a few reasons (not all I agree with). Firstly, this is because Apple makes superior computers and software, like Leopard, iLife and iWork. That's fine, I believe that. Then he mentions running Windows on the Mac via Bootcamp as another compelling reason why people switch. This I fully agree... having the option of Windows and Mac running on a same machine and thus eliminating compatibility concerns is in my opinion THE MOST crucial reason why people are convinced to switch.

After that, Cook mentions something which I feel strongly for. He says that Vista's inferiority to OS X is yet another reason why people move away from PCs to Macs, and goes on insinuating that OS X is miles ahead of Vista, and Vista did not live up to Microsoft's expectations. If you ask me, I tell you this is nonsense. Cook's statement is the typical response of Mac fanboys, ridiculing Vista just because they worship Apple and hate Microsoft. Vista is not selling well, yes that's a fact, but NOT because it is inferior to OS X, but because Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads give consumers a false negative impression of Vista, thus users shun it. Like I've written, Vista is superb. It's not because Vista sucks, but because people perceive it sucks and hence want to switch to a Mac.

Ok enough of that. After 'State of the Mac' followed an interesting presentation on new ways of manufacturing notebooks. This new manufacturing process was first seen in the MacBook Air with its precision aluminium unibody enclousure, ensuring a robust, sturdy yet lightweight chassis. Basically, the body is carved out of a single block of high quality aluminium. Then, Jobs returned on stage to introduce the laptops proper. To cut it short, these are the new changes:

MacBook Pro 15-inch

Image from Apple

1) New precision aluminium unibody enclosure, which saves half the structural parts as compared to the previous model. Jobs passed around the unibody to the audience and allowed them to feel how sturdy it is for themselves.

Image from Apple

2) A wonderfully bright 15-inch LED backlit display, which is instant-on and saves more power than normal displays. Colours are also more punchy, and the screen is all-glass, extending to the edges, taking after the iMac's design.

3) A new multi-touch glass trackpad, which has 39% larger tracking area than the old model. The click button has been eliminated, and now the entire trackpad is the button and is clickable. Also, some new multi-touch gestures were introduced. For example, swiping four fingers down on the trackpad will activate expose.

4) Screaming fast but more expensive DDR3 RAM.

5) Now just 0.95 inches thin.

6) Solid State Drives (SSDs) now come as an option on the MacBook Pro, and capacity has been bumped up to 128GB. Clearly this trend of SSDs over spinning hard drives are spilling beyond netbooks and ultra-portables, to the high-end notebooks too.

7) 802.11n Wi-Fi technology with bluetooth 2.1 and EDR. Comes as no surprise to me.

8) New mini display port connector which will drive 30-inch displays.

9) New graphics chipset! It will feature dual graphics - the more powerful but battery draining Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics (512MB), or the less powerful but more battery friendly GeForce 9400M integrated graphics.

MacBook Air

Image from Apple

The MacBook Air is Apple's ultra-portable laptop, and this time, the changes made were purely under-the-hood. The new Air will have a larger hard drive at 120GB, or an optional 128GB SSD. It will also use the new DDR3 RAM, and the same mini display port found on the MacBook Pro. But the most significant upgrade is the graphics. It will use the GeForce 9400M to provide 4X faster graphics than the previous model.

MacBook

Image from Apple

"The MacBook is the best selling Mac, ever." This was what Jobs said, and it comes as no surprise. The MacBook is an awesome machine, and now, Apple has reduced the price of the white plastic MacBook to only S$1588. (I feel it could have been much cheaper though.)

But the real news is that selling alongside this white MacBook is a totally new aluminium MacBook, featuring the same uni-body design with the MacBook Pro. It will feature a 13.3-inch LED backlit display for the first time, with the same button-less multi-touch trackpad, mini display port, DDR3 memory, and new GeForce 9400M graphics chipset.

Available in 2 models (2.0GHz and 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo), the high-end model will even have a backlit keyboard. One can also opt for the SSD option. Prices are steep though, starting at S$2088, but still reasonable considering the new features.

All in all, if you have been looking for a Mac notebook, now is the opportune moment to get one. Their laptops have reached such a high level of quality and perfection, it is really a class above the rest. Still, you might find them lacking in certain minor areas, such as having only 2 USB ports, and no card reader at all. Once you look past these small disappointments, you will realise that this is one incredible, durable machine that's above the competition.

Sept iPod event - roundup and first thoughts

Just caught the hour-long webcast of this event from the Apple website, and I'll be sharing some of my initial thoughts. Firstly, I would like to say that everything that was rumoured and what I had anticipated came true, including the accelerometer for the nano which I kinda guessed (more on that later).

The keynote was held at San Francisco, and while not as big as Macworld keynotes, it was nonetheless a reasonably major event. Steve came on stage to a rousing applause from the audience, and the first issue he addressed immediately was his health. “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated," said the vegan dressed in his usual black turtle neck top and jeans. Now this is a huge sigh of relief to investors, worried that his supposedly deteriorating health would affect Apple. But anyhow, we're glad to hear that... he looked his usual self.

Then he announced some statistics, the usual stuff that makes people go WOW. There are now 3000 iPhone and iPod touch apps, and iTunes Store is the top music distributor in any format in the US, beating Walmart. Impressive.

Now for the product announcements.

iTunes 8
Jobs started with iTunes 8, the next version of the popular music jukebox software for Mac and PC. He introduced HD TV shows which can be purchased online for USD 2.99, and showed some samples. Great quality, but not exciting to me.

iTunes 8 also has a new way of browsing music, where album artwork are displayed in a grid format so you can see all your albums at one go.


Then comes some really lame stuff IMO: the Genius playlist. What Genius does is to "automatically make playlists from songs in your library which go great together". In other words, this is smart shuffle. It takes random songs of a similar type and genre and pulls them together. Sounds really cool, good way to discover your library, but this is a superficial feature which doesn't impress me too much.


There is also a Genius sidebar, which will fetch recommendations of songs from the iTunes store which goes well with the playlist, and allow you to purchase them. Sadly, this is a not available in Singapore.


And that's about it for iTunes 8. I was expecting something more innovative. -.-

What I think:
iTunes 8 is clearly an evolutionary upgrade, and while some changes are nice, such as the new browsing views, the other features are purely lame and unconvincing, as if they had to force some new feature into iTunes since it's the new version. Genius playlist comes across as being good-to-have, nice to tinker around, but trivial and nonessential. However, the way Apple is marketing this... I think it's overrated. I don't know, you may feel differently, but iTunes 8 is not an impressive update at all.

iPod
With the software side out of the way, Jobs now focuses on the hardware, and this is where things get interesting. As usual, some statistics to brag about how dominant Apple is: iPod has a whopping 73.4% US market share as of July, and more than 160 million iPods have been sold to date. (Interesting fact: Microsoft's Zune player has only 2.6% market share.)

Great job Apple, but I share the same sentiments with Paul Thurrott, that the iPod is now at the point of maturity and changes are getting incremental. The long-term challenge is how to sustain that dominance (and perhaps stub out the up and rising Zune).  

iPod classic
This is the most BORING change to the iPod line. The thicker 160GB classic has been phased out, and the only model Apple will offer is a 120GB version at USD 249. No change whatsoever to everything else. Same software, design etc. This is obviously a non-event.

iPod nano

Image from Apple

Images of this 4th generation nano leaked out before the event, and they turned out to be dead accurate. Like I tell my friends, this new nano is reminiscent of a popular China fake of the 2nd gen nano! Haha... but whatever, it's so much nicer than the 'fat' 3rd gen nano. Clearly that form factor didn't work out for Apple. When you place all 4 generations of nanos side by side, the 'fat' one totally looks out of place, like it was never meant to be. But that's the past.

The new curved nano, the thinnest iPod ever made, is constructed out of aluminium, and even has curved glass. From an aesthetics standpoint, the curve body is beautiful. From a functionality standpoint, maybe less so. The curved glass could be reflective and cause viewing problems. I haven't had my hands on this thing, so that's just my guess.

The nano also sports an accelerometer, same as the iPhone/iPod touch, adding more functionality to it. When turned on its side, the nano will transit into Cover Flow mode. Photos will also rotate accordingly... neat. Also, when you shake the device, it will change track! But the larger picture is that now fun games on the touch which utilise the accelerometer will slowly make its debut on the nano too. There are also some UI tweaks, one obvious one being how the album art fills the screen like the touch.

The mediocre Genius thingy is also available on the nano, where you can create a Genius playlist right on the device itself, and refresh the playlist for new songs too. The pixel dense 2 inch screen is gorgeous, and the long height allows for nice long menus. Battery life is good, at 1 day for music and 4 hours for video. (Do take these numbers with a pinch of salt, it's normally less.)

The nano is available in 9 wonderfully vibrant colours, and retails for USD 149 for 8GB and USD 199 for 16GB.

What I think:
Apple's got a winner here with the nano. It looks slender and compact, while being durable, and also comes across as funky and hip. Youths would want this player. It has a good form factor and the curved body fits snugly in the hands. But best of all, it's environmentally friendly!

iPod touch

Image from Apple

The nano was the climax of the event. After that everything was back to dull and lackluster. There was a new iPod touch, but there's nothing to shout about it. It is much thinner (what's with Apple's obsession for thinness?), and takes on a curved back similar to the iPhone 3G, but still with that awful scratch-able metallic back.

What's really nice is the volume controls and inbuilt speaker, similar to the iPhone, which I feel should have been there since first gen. Jobs reminds us that the speaker is just for "casual listening", but apparently Engadget reports that it's not all that crappy. It would be very useful for playing games, since people do not normally connect the headphones.

Battery life for this device is at 36 hours for music and 6 hours for video (assuming Wi-Fi turned off I suspect).  There are also price cuts, though capacities have remained unchanged.  8GB is going for USD 229, 16GB for 299 and 32GB for 399.  Very attractive prices indeed...

Lastly, software version 2.1 will run on the new touches. Jobs claims that a ton of bugs have been fixed in this release, backup time reduced, performance improved, and there's a slightly updated UI, which again features the Genius playlists functionality. 2.1 will also be available to iPhone owners, which fixes call dropping and battery life issues. For iPod touch users running 1.x versions, the upgrade to 2.1 will cost USD 9.95, while existing 2.0.x owners can install 2.1 free.

What I think:
iPod touch 2G is clearly evolutionary.  It essentially remains unchanged from the first gen, since software can be updated to 2.1.  Perhaps the only reason why someone using the first gen touch would upgrade is for the volume controls and speakers! At least, I would.  But of course I wouldn't... it wouldn't be worth the money.  For the speakers, I already have purchased an external portable speaker that attaches to the iPod via the iPod connector, and for volume controls, you can get the new Apple headphones fitted with volume controls.  Problems solved!

So looking at all the announcements as a whole, I'm rather disappointed.  It all seems very mediocre (except for the nano) and conservative.  But then again, when you are the market leader, and when your products are mature enough, the notion of a total change in the product line is hard to entertain.  

Is Apple prepared for the big holiday season? Not really. But will sales be affected? Not really too, simply because they are Apple and the whole world knows iPods.  

Doubled capacities for nanos and price cuts for touch

Engadget reports some last minute iPod rumours just before the "Let's Rock" Apple media event.

The iPod nano's capacities is set to be upgraded from 4 and 8GB models to 8 and 16GB respectively, while having 9 colour choices, up from the existing 6. However, the iPod touch will not be having any capacity increases, remaining at 8, 16 and 32GB models. Instead, the good news is that prices are expected to fall heavily.

We'll see if that's true very soon, but most likely it will be.

FYI, the Apple online store is currently down, perhaps in preparation for the new products :)

New iPods this Sept confirmed

Let's rock!


It's confirmed! There will be an Apple event on 9th September where Jobs will introduce new iPods! He will introduce a taller, rounded nano and a new touch, consistent with the iPhone 3G's design and featuring volume controls at the side (finally). With these new hardware, there should also be an update to iTunes, version 8.0. You know what? I really hope that Apple will drop those scratch-able shiny metallic backs of the iPods and opt for a more durable material.

Also in the pipeline are new MacBooks, but I speculate that will come later at the end of the year instead of 9th sept. These new MacBooks are rumoured to be aluminium, and feature a better GPU and new chips with faster clock speeds. So if you're thinking of getting new iPods/MacBook, hold on for a while!

Google Chrome - the third major web browser

This piece of news is very sudden to me. Yes, rumours did circulate before that Google was working on some kick-ass web browser, but I didn't anticipate such an early release.

So Google announced on Monday that it will be shipping a public beta of its first web browser, Chrome. This is big big news, because this implies not only that there will be more competition facing Mozilla and Microsoft, but we as users who depend so greatly on the web browser will also have to evaluate this product and determine if it's better than Firefox or IE. So there will soon be 3 major web browsers... cool!


For more information, check out this comic on Chrome, released by Google themselves.

Basically this product is based upon the open source Web browser engine, WebKit. FYI, WebKit is also the engine powering Safari, but no immature comparisons should be made with Safari (and how horrible it is) until we really test it out.

Google being Google, the Internet company that it is renowned for, has created Chrome to be centered around web applications. And because we spend so much time on these web apps (like Blogger, Facebook, Gmail etc.), the browser is arguably the most important software on many people's computers. One of the main emphasis Chrome places is on stability of the browser, such that when it crashes, it doesn't bring down the entire program, but just the tab that is causing the problem. This is done through creating isolated processes for each tab and "sand-boxing" each tab. Curiously, this is what Microsoft is doing for IE 8 too. ^.^

Other areas where Chrome promises to do better than the competition is in security, performance, and simplicity without being feature-bland.

It is too early to say whether Chrome will dominate over IE or FireFox, but this is definitely an interesting product which everyone should consider installing once out of beta.

Internet Explorer 8 privacy features

Hmm... haven't posted on Microsoft stuff for some time. IE 8 is currently in development and recently the team announced an interesting feature regarding user privacy. This is THE single feature in IE which I so longed for, and I'm glad it's here.

Remember how Apple's Safari web browser has a "private browsing" feature which keeps online activities private (e.g. not saving history), and how Firefox has a "delete private data" option which rids the browser of stored data? I use these features frequently. Soon, IE 8 will finally include a similar feature, or rather, a similar set of features.

InPrivate browsing (what a nice name for private browsing) is a mode which lets you control whether or not IE saves your browsing history, cookies, and other data. Delete browsing history simply deletes traces of your browsing activities. InPrivate Blocking informs you about content that is in a position to observe your browsing history, and allows you to block it, while InPrivate Subscriptions allow you to control the list of sites which InPrivate Blocking blocks or allows.

I think such privacy features, though not new, are very useful in certain situations. For example, for public computers in school where leaving your digital footprint behind for another user to view may be unwanted, or when you use your friend's computer. Yet there are times when you're just casually surfing and don't require the browser to keep traces of your activities. This is also good when you want to clear your browser of all tracking cookies or clean up the history list... at least it can be done in a single click which is more convenient. I'm looking forward to IE 8, and let's hope Microsoft implements this properly.

Gates steps down

As of July this year, Bill Gates will be stepping down from Microsoft and will now be a chairman and advisor while increasing his foundation efforts. According to Microsoft, he will be relinquishing his daily role in the company, but this does not mean he will totally take his hand out of matters.

I think it's an opportune time for Gates to make way for new blood to head the company as it transits gradually from traditional desktop software and operating systems to cloud computing and Web 2.0 technologies. In order to do this, Microsoft has Mr Ray Ozzie, who is the chief mastermind behind recent developments such as Live Mesh and the cloud computing stuff. With his past experience on Lotus Notes, he is clearly the figure who will direct the company to slowly place less emphasis on desktop software. Now that Gates is 'leaving', he can have more liberty to grow Microsoft's internet presence without facing outright objection from Gates, because previously Gates would never have totally approved of cloud computing, since it could cannibalize major software sales such as Office. Ozzie will have the new title of Chief Software Architect.

As Gates steps down, CEO Steve Ballmer will also rise to greater power. In recent months, he has come to be known as the guy who proposed the Yahoo! acquisition, and failed. To me, he is more aggressive a business man than Gates, which is what I feel Microsoft needs to do in the face of increasing competition from companies like Google and Apple.

But more than anything, I think Gates stepping down shouldn't be viewed as a big deal, as this does not mean he has fully withdrawn from Microsoft. He's just moving on with life, and that's fine. I think there are great leaders to sustain the company, and it won't crumble anytime soon. As read on Microsoft's website, Ballmer says that "Bill and I are confident we’ve got a great team that can step up to fill his shoes and drive Microsoft innovation forward without missing a beat. "

All the best Microsoft!

Confirmed: iPhone in Asia this year

According to this article I saw on the Yahoo homepage, Singtel has apparently signed a contract with Apple to bring the popular iPhone over to Singapore later this year. This confirms the initial speculation that I made regarding the iPhone and the iTunes store coming to our shores! I'm excited about this, and hopefully the version that comes will be the rumoured 3G version that will be unveiled at the upcoming WWDC.

TUWP #10 - Home Server + Special Series

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #10

Yeah I've hit the tenth episode! A big thank you to all my listeners out there! (And also to VJ for hosting my files :D)

Topics covered:
- Windows Home Server
- Windows Live Calendar (Screenshots)
- Sign up or upgrade to @live.com email addresses now! (Hooray no more @hotmail.com!)
- M1 in talks with Apple to bring iPhone to Singapore in 2008
- Nokia installs HSDPA onboard 12 SBS bus services in Singapore allowing commuters to surf wirelessly for free
- Special series part 4 of 5: 6 causes of poor PC performance
1) Unnecessary files and programs
2) Temporary files (Internet cache, Windows temporary files, recycle bin files)
3) Hard drive errors
4) File fragmentation
5) Unnecessary startup items
6) Invalid registry entries (Try CCleaner)


Type: mp3
File size: 20.8 MB
Running time: 28:09
Date Recorded: Fri, 16 November 2007
Date Published: Fri, 16 November 2007
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Visit Ian's blog at www.nai-oh.blogspot.com

TUWP #9 - Does Leopard Open Up New Vistas?

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #9

This week's show is a short one, but hey, it's a lazy Monday...

Topics covered:
- Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard VS Windows Vista: there is no basis for comparison! Both Windows and Mac cater to different people, meet different people's needs, and each are unique on its own. 300 new features or 10?
- Windows Live: linking multiple Live IDs + Windows Live Events

I'll be back next week to continue the special series!


Type: mp3
File size: 10.7 MB
Running time: 11:28
Date Recorded: Mon, 22 October 2007
Date Published: Mon, 22 October 2007
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TUWP #8 - Zune2 + Special Series

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #8

Topics covered:
- Halo 3: It's time to finish the fight!
- IBM Lotus Symphony Beta 1, based on OpenOffice.org
- New Creative Zen & MuVo T100
- Apple Leopard release this month: 23/27 Oct?
- Gateway's One all-in-one PC: the iMac for PC users
- Microsoft's Zune 2.0: New features and different models
- Special series on hardware maintenance


Type: mp3
File size: 13.5 MB
Running time: 23:16
Date Recorded: Fri, 12 October 2007
Date Published: Fri, 12 October 2007
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TUWP #7 - A Fatter Cow + Special Series

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #7

Topics covered:
- XP SP3 estimated shipping date and the pain of updating a newly reformatted system with all system updates
- iPods: colour reshuffle for the shuffle, video for the nano, bigger drives for the classic and the much-awaited touch
- 199USD price drop for iPhone
- New iPod touch VS the Zune which squirts
- Security: surfing habits
- Virus identification + removal


Type: mp3
File size: 13.5 MB
Running time: 23:21
Date Recorded: Tue, 11 September 2007
Date Published: Tue, 11 September 2007
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TUWP #6 (Part 1) - Windows Alive + Special Series

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #6 PART 1

DO NOTE THAT THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF EPISODE 6. This is my longest episode ever, in fact, so long that GarageBand was unable to render it all in a single audio file, hence the part 1 & 2 split! In episode 6, the main issues I talked about are Windows Live Hotmail and Live SkyDrive, and in part 2, I started on my special series on system maintenance by talking about security software. A bit of digression at the start when I talked about Nokia, Comex and Apple, sorry couldn't resist the urge!


Type: mp3
File size: 14.4 MB
Running time: 29:20
Date Recorded: Thurs, 30 August 2007
Date Published: Thurs, 30 August 2007
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TUWP #6 (Part 2) - Windows Alive + Special Series

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #6 PART 2

DO NOTE THAT THIS IS THE SECOND PART OF EPISODE 6. Part 2 contains the special series on system maintenance where I talk about system security from Internet threats. Continued from Part 1...


Type: mp3
File size: 7.1 MB
Running time: 12:09
Date Recorded: Thurs, 30 August 2007
Date Published: Thurs, 30 August 2007
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TUWP #5 - Fiji

The Unofficial Windows Podcast Episode #5

It's the hottest upcoming major update to Windows Vista... Service Pack 1! Previously codenamed Fiji, I talk about what this service pack contains and make some noise about SP3 for XP. Also, check out the new entry-level Intel Pentium Dual Core chips, and the crazy 3.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip! Lastly, I talk about the new shiny metallic iMac and how PC manufacturers can learn a thing or two from Apple.


Type: mp3
File size: 17.1 MB
Running time: 24:40
Date Recorded: Fri, 10 August 2007
Date Published: Sat, 10 August 2007
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Apple's at it again

It was previously anticipated that sometime soon Apple would renew its iMac all-in-one desktop, however, never in my wildest dreams has it occurred to me that this change would take place so quickly.


Viola! Load the Apple homepage today and a gorgeous striking picture of the latest iMac, clad in shiny aluminum casing with a black border surrounding its glossy screen, will greet you. It’s thinner than before, which immediately raises questions about air circulation and over-heating problems especially now that these machines are running chips up to 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. That’s beastly.

As with many of Apple’s new products, they are not completely new or foreign. I would call this new iMac more of an upgrade and a facelift rather than a complete overhaul. The concept for its outer design has been retained, but the usual white glass-coated plastic covering has been abandoned as consumers favour the more durable aluminum shell, citing that it makes the product look classier. And finally Apple has heard the boos and whines from environmentalists, repeatedly assuring everyone, during the Apple Special Event held at the Apple campus, that this iMac is made of recyclable materials and high-quality plastics that can be recycled and is environment-friendly.

Together with the spanking new iMacs, Jobs also announced improvements to the lacking and almost stagnant .Mac online services, a revamped iLife and a fresh new version of iMovie and significant new features to iPhoto, finishing it off with upgrades to iWork, including the introduction of an Excel compatible spreadsheet software, Numbers. With the complete suite, Pages, Keynote and Numbers, this could be the final nail in the coffin for Office for Mac.

So Apple has been busy busy busy this year! And in a few months time Leopard will ship. I have a few theories as to why Apple suddenly released so many new stuff all at one go.

For many consumers that are aware of Leopard, Apple’s next operating system, they would patiently wait for Leopard to arrive before purchasing a new Mac. Hence, there would be a drop in the number of people buying the Mac at this period, as many would prefer to wait for Leopard on their Macs, and not install another OS over the existing Tiger. So, in a bid to keep consumer interest and sales going, Apple has to introduce many new enticing upgrades and new products to keep the demand high. For people who do not know anything about Leopard, they will fall for this trap and purchase the new iMac running Tiger and in a few months time when Leopard ships, their system will be outdated and more money has to be spent buying Leopard and going through the hassle of installing it. Knowing that fans are so crazy over new products and can’t wait, Apple has taken this opportunity to release these fantastic stuff.

Also, the new iMac can be seen as a more powerful machine released in preparation for Leopard, which surely demands more processing power than Tiger. Furthermore, the fact that Apple is giving students free iPod nanos with every current purchase of a new Mac confirms my theory that these are desperate attempts to keep sales going. And guess what, this offer ends at around the time when Leopard is released. HAH!

Be smart, wait for Leopard before buying the new iMac, like I’m going to do, then get iWork, use the free Boot Camp, install Vista Home Premium, give it a RAM boost to 2GB (you’ll need that), and finally get rid of XP on that old PC in the living room, and replace it with the neat 20/24-inch beauty!

SP1!

Time flies.

It seems as if it was just yesterday when Windows Vista was released, and now Service Pack 1 is already taking shape, with an initial beta version going to be released soon. According to the Windows Vista Weblog, rumour has it that July 29 would be the date for this release. This news wouldn't excite the consumer market much, because no consumer really cares about bug fixes and Microsoft allowing Instant Search to run in the background together with third-party search softwares (like Google Desktop Search) etc.

Nevertheless, this is my advice to all those who are planning to purchase a new computer sometime soon: If possible, hang on until SP1, it will be worth it, though it still looks very much the same as before. No point getting a new system only to be deemed outdated in a few months time...