Posted by Luke | Posted on 07-10-2009
Category : apple
Tags: apple, Computer, Gadgets, Mac, Macintosh
Rumours are coming in thick and fast about all sorts of new and refreshed Apple products. It would seem that they may just carry some weight as well. With many rumours about the release of a new iMac to be coming our way seemingly any moment now, it would seem appropriate that a facelift on the iMac would come with new peripherals – wouldn’t it?
AppleInsider mentions in this post on their website a few very notable points which certainly lead to a new release of an iMac, there’s news of supply lines for the current model being restricted. Now in the past when this has been the case with other products such as the iPhone, iPods & Laptops it has almost certainly meant that there’s a new model on the way. To complement this it has been just over two years now since Apple first released the aluminium iMac in it’s current shape, all of these things say to me that it may just be time for an update.
What really catches my eye though is the thought that there may also be new peripherals such as an updated Mighty Mouse and Keyboard to go along with it. Personally I love the aluminum keyboard that was released with the original aluminium iMac. I find it easy and quick to type on, while also being nice and quiet, however I am considerably more excited about the possibility of a new mighty mouse.
Endgadget posted an article the other day about how Apple applied for new patents on the Keyboard and Mighty Mouse, these details were released on the American FCC’s website just long enough for keen eyes to grab some screen shots with pictures and all. I really do find the current Mighty Mouse a great mouse to use, and I think that it complements OS X very well. The ability to use and customise so many different buttons on the mouse in such a user friendly way is something that I seen on many other mice out there to-date. My one and only complaint about the current mouse however is that of the scroll ball. When it works it is genius, but give it some time and some frequent use and this thing gets so gunked up it renders it almost unusable.
The patents that were released seem to hint towards the new mouse containing some sort of multi-touch technology, if this is something that can replace the scroll ball while still maintaining the great user experience then I say bring it on! Given that one of our mighty mouse has a scroll ball that needs cleaning every second day I say that it is definitely time for a new model to come out.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,28348,25927464-5014239,00.html
I was reading the news story from the link above and it got me thinking. The article basically refers back to a case where a teenager had his girlfriends iPhone, it apprantly started hissing and then shattered, flying shards of glass around with one getting into his eye. The Child is said to be taking action against apple for this ‘faulty’ product.
In Apple’s usual manner when there is a story on exploding or overheating iPods, they have refused to comment or take any action on the issue. In my opinion I know that if there was a problem with the product Apple would probably be quick to replace all affected models, they have done his in the past with other products like laptops and iPods. Although from a public relations and reputation management point of view I believe that by Apple refusing to make any statements they are treading a very thin line which could impact on customers trust in the company and it’s products.
Rather than taking the path that Apple’s lawyers dictate each and every time I feel it would benefit the company in the long run to actually come out and say something in situations like these, something to reassure every iPod, iPhone and Mac owner out there that the products they are using on a day to day basis have been tested thoroughly, and that the situations where something is happening, are an anomaly and a small percentage of all items out there on the market. By taking this path rather than the path determined by the lawyers it would put them in a better position to recover if there ever was a situation where a batch of iPhones were faulty.
Apple you need to understand that while you may be sitting pretty now – if you continue down a path where you fail to recognize and rectify issues, these issues will one day snowball into a crisis and one that could impact how you proceed in the marketplace.
But then again, Apple never have been the conventional thinking computer company, have they?
Posted by Luke | Posted on 10-07-2009
Category : Internet/Tech
Tags: 3G, broadband, Gadgets, internet, price, Wireless
I think that the invention of wireless broadband dongles is one of the greatest things to come to broadband internet access in the last few years, mainly because it allows you to get online anywhere you have 3G mobile phone coverage and on top of this it allows people who only have one computer in the home the freedom of doing away with landlines and DSL at home.
I do however have a bit of an issue with the phone companies over these devices. While the plans for them are fine if this is your only method of access to the internet, I think it is a terrible ripoff if you allready have your home broadband and possibly your mobile phone with that carrier as well. If you are anything like us we already have the highest broadband plan our service provider allows which costs us over $100 a month, and we also both have our phones with the same carrier thats almost another $100 a month there as well. I feel that it is pointless paying another $50 dollars a month over two years or having an even more expensive pre-paid arrangement just to allow you to access the web anywhere you go.
What I would like to see mobile carriers do is bundle their products, what would be so wrong with us paying a little extra each month say $10-$20 to have a dongle that is linked to our home broadband account. Allowing us to utilise the data allowance we have at home, anywhere in the country. Rather than having another whole contract for a separate device giving us an extra 1-5 gig’s of data, which we allready get (and often don’t use) in our home broadband anyway.
I understand that there are probably extra costs associated with providing broadband via 3G but I think that it makes good sense, not only that but it would give the company who adopts it a good marketing and competitive advantage over the competitors in the industry.
Do you have any thoughts on this topic? If so please feel free to leave a comment below!
The Palm Pre has recently been released in America, and while I doubt we will see it here in Australia for quite some time due to the fact that it’s currently only a CDMA handset (no longer supported on Aussie networks) it has got an accessory that I would’ve loved to see on the newest model of Apple’s iPhone. The accessory that I’m referring to is Inductive Charging.
Inductive charging is a pretty neat technology that allows you to charge devices without physically plugging them to a power cable. There are currently charging mats out there that are square little rubbery looking mats that you can sit several devices on and charge them.
The pictures above are of the Palm Touchstone, the idea here is that the round base is connected to a power source, and you replace the standard back cover of the device with the touchstone back cover – pictured on the left. You can then simply sit your phone on top of the touchstone base and it charges your phone for you.
I think this is a great idea and can’t believe that it hasn’t been implemented on more devices. It may be a little gimmicky as it is just another way of achieving the same result that you can get when plugging in a power cable but it is something I would love to have! With the current iPhone 3GS coming out last month, it didn’t really have any compelling features that have prompted me to break my current contract and upgrade to the new model, this inductive charging, if offered on the iPhone 3GS would’ve given me a good reason to upgrade!!
