Posted by Luke | Posted on 12-07-2010
Category : Internet/Tech, apple
Tags: apple, Hardware, Malfunction, Time Capsule, Wireless
Like many other people out there we went and bought an Apple Time Capsule as soon as they were available for sale in early 2008. During the last several months it has become apparent that these early release Time Capsule’s seem to be suffering from a sudden death whereby they would simply turn off during use and not restart, or just wouldn’t power on upon startup.
This is a problem that affected us about a month ago, where out of the blue our trusty Time Capsule simply without any warning just packed it in. After looking endlessly over the internet it was obvious to me that there was a problem with the TC, with no apparent fix. Until now, Apple have put a formal post up on their support website which confirms that this affliction is affecting TC with serial numbers within the range: XX807XXXXXX – XX814XXXXXX. They don’t offer any real explanation as to why these units are suffering from such sudden death’s.
Their solution however is to check the serial number on your unit (this can be located in the sticker on the base of the unit) and if your unit falls within the range above, you can contact either an Apple Authorised Service Provider, Book an appointment with a Genius Bar or call the Apple Contact Centre. They will then arrange for either a replacement or repair to be carried out on your unit.
For more information on this issue head over to Apple’s support website http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3351
Update: 18 July
After speaking with an Apple Customer Care consultant the other day, who had no knowledge of this problem we decided to make an appointment with a Genius at the Apple Store. We went today for our session – the first real Apple Store experience we have had other than just browsing. With basically no questions we met with the Genius who looked at the serial number and said ‘yep this is within the range, and it’s not working you’re eligible to have this replaced’ so within two to three days we should have a replacement time capsule 
.
Posted by Luke | Posted on 23-03-2010
Category : Random & Interesting, apple
Tags: apple, Computer, Hardware, Mac, Macintosh, Rumour
I came across some interesting information on Mashable today about rumours that are starting to surface regarding hardware updates across several of Apple’s computer lines. The rumour is based upon some ‘official looking ads’ which were seen representing the Australian and New Zealand Apple stores, with slightly higher prices and revised specifications.
It would seem plausible that this would be the case as in the past Apple have been one of the first computer companies to utilise Intel’s most modern processor chips, the latest of which in the range include the Core i5 & i7. The i7 chip has been offered in specific Apple desktop models for some time now. Therefore it would seem only sensible that they work their way into the laptop’s at one time or another.
Another interesting piece of information which also suggests that there might be a revision or update on it’s way is the MacRumours Buying Guide. MacRumours use historical information about previous release dates and the time in-between different releases and upgrades to help suggest when a product line is getting long in the tooth. Turns out it is a very handy tool if you are considering purchasing a new Apple product, jump on and have a look too see if the product you are looking for is nearing the end of its cycle you may like to hold off on that purchase just a little while. At this point in time it is interesting to note that this guide is suggesting that the product lines including the Macbook Pro, Macbook Air and Mac Pro are all recommending ‘Don’t Buy – Updates Soon’.
So this is when it all starts to get a little exciting, my guess is that we probably won’t see any major design changes to the actual products but bring on some modern processors and revisions to perhaps the graphics cards and hard drives. Only time will tell.
It has become increasingly apparent to me lately that it would seem that struggling consumer electronics companies feel that the best way to keep their heads above board is to sue the pants of their successful competitors. What sparked this thought of mine?! Well the most recent story going around is that of Kodak, the has been photography company, has decided that mobile phone companies such as Apple & Blackberries Research In Motion (RIM) are utilising technology which Kodak holds the patents for in relation to how photo’s are viewed on their mobile devices.
This is only one of a few stories like this recently. The other most notable one in recent times is that of the battle between Finnish company Nokia and computer company Apple. The contention here was similar in nature to that of Kodak in that Nokia is claiming that Apple is infringing their patents in many of the ways that the iPhone works such as multi-touch technologies. Apple true to form have of course counter sued Nokia claiming that in fact Nokia is exploiting up to 13 patents that Apple holds.
I do understand the importance of companies in such highly competitive markets to protect their competitive advantages however it almost seems as though the ‘underdog’ company, in these cases Nokia & Kodak are suing to help bump up their incomes.
Would it not prove more productive for them to put the energy and money into developing products that have increased appeal to the consumer? I would certainly prefer to see companies pouring their resources into developing some compelling offerings rather than into senseless efforts to gain a quick buck. Not only that, but what what does all of this legal action mean for the end price that the customer needs to pay ? Well when a company is paying out big bucks for lawsuits and lawyers it must get factored into the pricing of their products some how.
Unfortunately it does seem to be part and parcel of operating a business in todays litigious environment so in a way I suppose we will see this more and more as it becomes more important to protect your intellectual property and the things that you have that give you an advantage over your competitors.
It was back in January of 2008 when Google first released their very own web browser by the name of Chrome, since that time it had only ever been available to people running windows as their operating system. Unfortunately for those of us who run either Mac or Linux as our main operating systems we weren’t able to get in on the action of this new browser. Ever since the launch however Google had said that there were plans for a Mac and Linux based version of the browser which has now arrived.
I downloaded it late last night and thought I would have a quick browse around with it. I almost always use Safari on the Mac which I consider to be a very fast web browser and on par with Firefox, but upon opening up Chrome and using it for a little while you do notice the speed in which web pages load. Speed is always something that we are looking for in a web browser because we all want the fastest load times possible and Chrome certainly doesn’t disappoint here.
As far as appearance goes, if you have used the Windows version of Chrome at all you will notice that it is all very similar but with a more…Mac’ish feel to it, the colour scheme has been adapted to better fit within the OS X environment. Although Google have equipped Chrome with a host of different themes that can be added to it as well to change up the look. It does offer the now expected feature of tabbed browsing, however it does so in a different manner to what we are all used to. As mac users if you remember back to when the beta version of Safari 4 was released the behaviour of the tabs was to sit above the address bar? Well this is the same way that tabs are implemented in Chrome – I really like this way of setting out the tabs as it maximises your viewing area which can be especially valuable if you are on a laptop and it is something that I wish had been kept in Safari.
The other neat thing that you will notice is that you lose the search bar that we have come to expect, it is no longer a separate box to type your search into. Google Chrome integrates the address bar and search box all into one and they call it the Omnibox. Therefore if you know the URL go ahead and type it in, but if your not sure use the same box and do a Google (or other specified search engine) search.
One of the other things that has become standard in all modern browsers is the ability to browse the web in ‘private’ mode, Chrome also has this functionality which they call Incognito. Essentially meaning that there will be no cookies or web history saved from sites you visit while ‘incognito’ this is a very good feature if you are using a public computer and would like to further increase your safety while doing internet banking or shopping. I do however like the rather humorous explanation that Google gives about the Incognito function.
All in all this is a very capable browser and I like it a lot! I’m glad it is finally available on the Mac and Linux platforms for all to utilise. Google Chrome is available for download here: http://www.google.com/chrome
And further information about the browser is available here: http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features_mac.html
