We will soon be switching to a cms/forum based system so we can foster a community type environment.

We hope this will facilitate discussions and help with creating a space for the questions and answers some of you have sent in.

So, bear with us over the next few weeks while we get this situated.

Before we get to my opinions, let’s start with what we know:

• 9.7″ Screen
• 1/2 thick, 1.5 lbs
• 10 Hours of battery life with 1 month of standby
• 16 – 64 gigabytes of flash storage
• Accelerometer and Compass – (GPS?)
• Speaker and Microphone
• WiFi N, Bluetooth
• 3G optional

This device runs a modified iPhone OS.  It will run most of the current iPhone apps out of the box. For most apps it will run iPhone apps in native resolution or “doubled” resolution.

They announced an “iBookstore” to purchase books for the device.
They announced a version of iWork specifically for the iPad.  Each app (Numbers, Pages, Keynote) will be $9.99.

Pricing:  16GB – $499, 32GB – $599, 64GB – $699  w/o 3G  (Add $130 for 3G)

No camera, no multi-tasking, no phone capabilities that we know of.

My Opinion:

Well, I have to start by saying that it was not quite the device that I was expecting.   I was hoping for a multi-touch tablet running Mac OSX.   Something with a little more features.  With that said, I find this device interesting and I will probably buy it.  Mostly because of the price.

With all “new” Apple products, I think they release a very subdued version of what the device could be.  (Look at the iPhone 1G compared to the 3G or 3GS)

It does look quite elegant and has a LOT of potential.

I think that Jobs hit on it from the beginning.  It’s a device that sits between the iPhone/smartphone and a laptop.

He mentioned that a lot of people felt that the “netbook” filled that gap, but he contestested “The problem is netbooks aren’t better at ANYTHING.” Applause. “They’re just cheap laptops.”

The price point on the iPad is incredible.  $499 for the 16GB model rocks.  With $100 increase for the 32 and again for the 64 gigabyte version.   The 3G versions will be $130 more for “the 3G radio”.

My opinion is that this will EVENTUALLY be an incredible device for most people.  I think it will change the “reader” market, since it’s price directly competes with them.  However, I think we need to see it mature a bit before calling it an end all be all machine.

I will more than likely get one when they are available.  (60 days for the standard models and 90 days for the 3G enabled version)  For the time being, I’ll have to give this:

When I do get one, I’ll post a review and may change my rating.

I get the replacement unibody MacBook and I do a restore from Time Machine.  I had previously installed all my apps from scratch on the exact same Mac before it died. (again see other post)  I log in for the first time and I do all my updates.  Everything works great!  Except for one thing:

Everytime I open my Screen Saver Preference pane…  I get the Beach Ball and my System Preferences hangs and I must force quit!

I google and google…  Finally I found a fix at the Apple Support Discussions:  Screen Saver Preference Pane Lockup thanks swmbuk!

Let me lay out the Symptoms and summarize the fix:

Symptoms I noticed:

1. Opening System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver caused my System Preferences to crash or beach ball for a good while then crash
2. I noticed that in my system.log (Console > system.log) there was an entry: “Call to deprecated method ILApertureMediaManager::init. Please update your code to use ILApertureMediaManager::sharedManager:“
3. When I could navigate in the Screen Saver preference pane and select “iTunes Artwork” it would claim that I had none.
4. Attempting to install another screen saver would cause the system to hang.
5. Creating a new admin account and then log in as that account would produce the same results.

The fix summarized: (kudos again to swmbuk)

1. I got my install dvd’s that came with my MacBook and inserted the second one marked “Applications Install Disk”
2. Went to Finder and deleted the folder: /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/iLifeMediaBrowser.framework
3. Dowloaded and Installed Pacifist from: http://www.charlessoft.com/
4. Executed the Pacifist application
5. With the “Open Package…” dialog in Pacifist, I opened “Installed Bundled Applications” from the disk. (it took a while to extract the packages)
6. I expanded the “Contents of  InstallBundledSoftware.mpkg”
7. Selected “Contents of iLifeMediaBrowser_v2.pkg” and clicked install.
8. I had to enter my admin password and some other dialog boxes.
9. I ran software update and installed “iLife Support 9.0.3″

VOILA! All symptoms resolved

I post this because it took quite a while for me to find a fix that actually worked.  There also seems to be several people experiencing a similar issue.  I hope this post helps some of you.

Three thumbs up for Apple!
BOOO for AT&T!

Today was the highly anticipated WWDC (apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference) keynote.  Rumors have been focusing on the iPhone, but in just the first half of the keynote speech, they WOW’d us in true apple form with some interesting announcements.

Wow, I just got finished watching TWiT’s feed and commentary on the WWDC Keynote speech.  WOW.  A lot of very exciting things coming down the apple pipeline.  I took some notes while watching/listening to the cast.

The most anticipated announcement is that the new iPhone will be available on June 19th. It is known as the 3GS.  With the S for SPEED .  Some of the new features are 3 megapixel with video and autofocus, faster speed 7.2 megabit, and a compass.  WOW  32GB for $299 and 16GB for $199 and the old 3G at 8GB will be available for  $99.

The following is a bullet list of what was announced.

MacBook Pro’s
- all MacBook Pro’s have been refreshed
- battery life extended
- non-replaceable battery
- 13″ Unibody MacBook now a Pro
- – Firewire added to the 13″ unibody

Quicktime New
- iMovie like editing

OSX Snow Leopard
- Available in September
- 64 Bit
- 16 Billion Gigabyte Memory ceiling
- Multi core support more efficient
- $29 upgrade $49 family pack upgrade (not confirmed, but that would rock)
- $129 Standard buy (not the upgrade)
- Exchange support in ical, mail, address book, etc (great for business users)
- Snow Leopard will be available for all intel mac

iPhone
- 50,000 apps in the app store
- 40,000,000 iPhones and iPod touches sold
- in 9 months of the app store, 1 billion apps downloaded

iPhone OS 3.0
- more than 100 new features
- cut, copy and paste
- landscape keyboard in all applications
- mms added
- AT&T will support mms later this summer LOL
- message search
- spotlight – search across the phone

- iTunes rent and purchase movies and audiobooks from iPhone
- Parental control on apps and movies etc

- Tethering USB AND Bluetooth
- – AT&T not supported yet BOOO

- support for streaming video and audio HTTP
- autofill
- HTML 5

- robust language support (over 30 languages)

- Find my iphone (??) available to mobile me…
- – it will show you on a web browser where your iphone is  NICE
- – if completely lost you can erase all data on the phone

- support for peer to peer gaming over bluetooth

- hardware protocol support for external devices

- push notifications
- turn by turn using core location

- free for iPhone – $9.95 for iPod touch
- Available June 17 (devs get it today)

iPhone Hardware
- iPhone 3GS (S for Speed for the most powerful, fastest one ever)
- same design as 3G
- OpenGL|ES 2.0 support
- 7.2 megabit HSPDA
- 3 megapixel autofocus camera
- – tap to focus
- – low light sensitivity
- VIDEO
- – 30fps 640×480
- – autofocus
- voice control
- – control things like ipod (“play more songs like this”)
- digital compass
- hardware encryption
- improved battery
- Pricing: $199 16 GB and $299 32 GB plus $99 for the 8GB 3G (non-S)
- Availability: June 19th, 2009

Wow,  kudos APPLE!  The boo for AT&T is that the MMS and Tethering “is coming” LOL

I decided to play with it some more and install some OS’s on it…..

OSX:

First I played with OSX on the wind.  First, I did the boot-132 method and installed a fresh copy of OSX.  This went well.  After the initial install, I needed to install some kexts to get the keyboard and mouse working.  I used OSX86Tools to install them.  I then did a full update from the Apple Software Update.  This went well.  I had some intermittent issues with the wifi and the webcam.  All in all it was not so bad.

I next tried the MSIWindOS86.iso. (this is the pre-built ISO for the wind that’s available out there)  It installed smoothly and everything but wifi was working immediately.  I installed this with the kernel option unchecked and was able to again update the system to 10.5.6 from the apple update.

This was the extent of my getting OSX on the MSI Wind for now.  I plan to attempt a more extensive install and get everything working soon.  I will post a write up on this when I get to it.

Crunchbang Linux:

On a recommendation from Jed, I next installed Crunchbang Linux.  This is a lightweight spin of Ubuntu that seems to work well with netbook systems.  Everything went well with the install.   Someone has compiled an Ubuntu/Debian package for the wifi adapter in the MSI Wind and this downloaded and installed beautifully. Well, slightly…

At first the wifi did not come up properly in the network manager.  After some reading, I figured out I had to turn the bugger on.  LOL  Fn+F11 does this.  When successful, a light with a wifi symbol will light up on the front of the MSI Wind.  Another note, Fn+F6 controls the webcam on/off.

Another technochubby moment occured when I plugged in my USBConnect881 from AT&T (cellular internet usb device).  Crunchbang immediately detected it and asked if I wanted it configured for use.  I clicked yes and it set it all up for me.  I tested it and it worked beautifully.

Again, this is the extent of what I did to get Crunchbang Linux on the device.  I may go back to trying it again, if I do, I will post an extensive write up on this.

Windows 7:

I have a copy of the upcoming Windows 7 release.  I decided to give this a go.  This was by far the most painless of the 3 installs.  Basically did the default install, then did the windows update.  Everything worked, no issues with any device drivers.  There was some issues with the AT&T dongle…

To test out the AT&T dongle, I first downloaded and installed the AT&T Communications manager from the AT&T website directly.  I launched it with the USBConnect881 plugged in and Windows 7 complained about being unable to install the device driver for it.  The Communications Manager program timed out and could not initialize the device.

I then went directly to the sierra wireless site and downloaded the generic 3G watcher.  I uninstalled the AT&T Communications Manager and installed the 3G Watcher.  I launched the application and plugged in the USBConnect881 dongle.  The dongle then loaded the install for the Communications Manager and the 3G Watcher did not see the modem.  In the 3G Watcher’s menu under tools, there is a mode setting, I set this to modem.  Windows 7 then loaded the appropriate driver and the 3G Watcher initialized.  After hitting ‘connect’ I was able to surf the web with the dongle.  Good stuff.

So that’s about it for now.  I really want to get Mac OSX running well on this thing, so I will be playing with this over the next couple of days.

Let me start by talking about what I want a “netbook” or a smaller form factor portable computer. My main computer is a Macbook Pro 17″ and while for the size of it, it’s fairly light and quick to turn on and set up, at times, I don’t like pulling out such a beast for quick and dirty things I want to do. I am looking for a device that I can take with me almost anywhere, be fairly non-obtrusive, and be my quick window to the net. The MSI Wind was to be this device for me, NOT!

Again, spec wise it’s fair, I would go so far to say even better than fair. However, for me, it’s missing two key elements, touch screen capabilities and at least 1280×720 (or 800) resolution. For the technology we have today, these two elements MUST be in a small form factor PC or “netbook” for me.

The MSI Wind has a decent screen with 1024×600 resolution. I thought I could deal with this. With so many laptops with 1280×800+ screen resolutions, I do not believe GUI designers have set things up to accommodate the 600 pixel high space. It gets really frustrating when you can’t hit a dialog in something you are trying to do quickly. (remember, one of the purposes of having the machine)

The second thing is touch screen. It lacks one. It should have one. All “netbooks” should have some sort of touch capability on the screen. Again, for speed and ease of use. If there are kits showing up on e-bay for touch screen kits for these devices from $50 to $150, it should not be difficult to include one in the manufacturing process.

Sure, I know I can tweak the device to work with the resolution and add a touch screen. My point is, we have the technology and the ability to make devices at low cost that we don’t have to settle for. With my myriad of life projects going on and other hobbies, I don’t have time to mess with a machine to get these things in it. I want to buy an off the shelf product and just go. (well, maybe some minor mods, like putting OSX on it LOL)

The deal breaker on the Wind and most “netbooks” for me at the moment is the screen resolution. If this thing just had 1280×720/800 minimum, I’d be all over it.

Where oh where can I get one of these: Gigabyte M912V

I picked up an MSI Wind today.  I needed a more portable solution than my Macbook Pro 17″.   (I still plan to get the unibody one when it comes out)  I still plan to get a Vaio P-Series at some point, you just can’t beat the screen res and size of that thing.

I started playing around with it, am working on putting OSX on it.  I was going to go the MSIWindOSX86.iso method but I like clean installs.  So, I am working on methodology that allows me to do full vanilla updates etc.

If it doesn’t frustrate the hell out of me, I’ll do a write up and video on what I did

If it doesn’t work well enough, linux baby!

This video and write up will explain how to install Boxee and XBMC on to your Apple TV for Mac/OSX users. We may do a video at some point on how to do this from a Windows or Linux based operating system. But at this time, we are mainly Mac and will show you how to do this.

Hardware used in this HowTo:

Computer and OS: Macbook Pro 17″ running Mac OSX 10.5.6
Apple TV: 40GB with version 2.3
USB Drive: PNY 2GB Attache “High-Speed”

Plug in the USB Drive you will use into a free USB port.

From the atvusb-creator site:

“7) WARNING Be very careful in selecting the correct USB device. Any USB mass storage devices are selectable and once you start the process, the contents are gone!”

If you have several USB storage devices, you will want to launch “disk utility” and right click your USB Drive and select “Information”. In the information window screen, look at the line that says “Disk Identifier”. In my case it’s “disk2″. Make a note of this!

You will need to get the ATVUSB-Creator from Google code’s pages. Do this by going to http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/ and download the current OSX version. (the current version at the time of this writing is: atvusb-creator-1.0.b10)

Now, unzip and launch atvusb-creator. I downloaded the zip file to my desktop, unzipped and ran it from the folder it created.

First things first, once atvusb-creator is launched, be sure the “USB Target device” is set to your USB drive. In my case it’s /dev/disk2. BE SURE THIS HAS THE DISK IDENTIFIER YOU FOUND IN THE PREVIOUS STEP.

Be sure “ATV-Patchstick” is selected under “Choose an Installation”. Be sure that the green checks are selected for what you want to install under “Installation Options”.

Then double check that your USB drive is selected and click the “Create Using” button. At this point it will download and prepare the USB Drive you specified to be the Patchstick you will use to add Boxee/XMBC to your Apple TV.

At this point, remove the created “patchstick” from the computer and take it to your Apple TV.

Shut your Apple TV down. (I just unplug it, it does not seem to do it any harm – I know I know… )

Plug the created patchstick into the back of the Apple TV. Now plug the Apple TV back in.

As the Apple TV boots, you should get a logo with a penguin sitting on top of an Apple TV. THIS IS GOOD!

This means your Apple TV is booting from the patchstick. You will then get a series of scrolling text on the screen for a couple minutes. Once it is completed, you will get some text that says “you may now remove the patchstick and reboot the device” or something similar to this.

Unplug the Apple TV THEN remove the USB stick and plug the Apple TV back in.

Your Apple TV should boot as normal. You will eventually get to the familiar Apple TV menu with an extra item at the top “Boxee/XBMC” select this. Then navigate to update. Update all of the programs. (At the time of this writing, it was XBMC, Boxee, and Launcher)

Once all the programs/downloads are updated, you can launch Boxee from the menu. VOILA! You have Boxee installed!

As stated in the video, the purpose of this HowTo was to get Boxee on your Apple TV. The configuration and use of Boxee is up to you

It was a bit larger than I expected.  However, it still is a pretty insane device.  I played around a bit with the “instant on” feature that brought up the PSP/PS3 like media bar, it was not “instant” but it was fast.  It’s definitely running a version of Linux in this mode.  When I brought up the web, it had the good ol’ x-windows X and then clearly an X version of FireFox.  One other note about the media bar, the interface was not as clean aesthetically and font wise as I have come to expect from Sony products.

It seemed slightly sluggish with Vista running on it.  I did not get the full specs of the one I was playing with.  It did not feel like it was running with the SSD drive.

All in all, it was a nice machine. I am not sure now if I am going to RUSH out and get one, we’ll have to see what the final product is like when it’s released.  It might be something worth waiting until the second generation for.

It’s thicker than a Macbook Air.  Just FYI.

I have not been huge on this whole “netbook” craze.  But, I have to admit this device looks insane!

The highlights:

• 1600 x 768, LED backlit 8-inch ultra-wide display (diagonal)
• weighs just 1.4 pounds and is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket
• built-in wireless WAN 3G Mobile Broadband, 802.11n wi-fi and Bluetooth
• real-time GPS functionality
• pricing starts at about $900
• available in February

Some of the Technical Specifications:

• Intel Processor @ 1.33 Ghz
• 2GB RAM
• 128 GB SSD
• 8″ XBRITE-ECO Display @ 1600×768
• Mobile Intel GMA500 Graphics
• 2 USB, 1 Memory Stick Duo, 1 SD
• Windows Vista Home Premium

It’s OS is Vista.  Not a big fan, but for the functionality, we can forgive them if it works well.  The screen resolution alone on this thing is incredible.

From the Press Release:

SONY UNVEILS WORLD’S LIGHTEST 8-INCH NOTEBOOK

Full-Featured VAIO PC Fuses Style, Mobility and Connectivity for Anytime, Anywhere Computing

LAS VEGAS (CES Booth #14200), Jan. 7, 2009 – Sony today took the wraps off the world’s lightest 8-inch notebook— the new VAIO® P Series Lifestyle PC.

About the size of a business envelope and roughly as thin as a cell phone, the VAIO Lifestyle PC weighs just 1.4 pounds and is small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or handbag while integrating full-PC features.

The model incorporates a high-resolution, 1600 x 768, LED backlit 8-inch ultra-wide display (diagonal), making it easy to view everything from entire spreadsheets to full web pages— no side-to-side scrolling necessary. It also incorporates Sony’s XBRITE-ECO™ LCD technology, producing images in brilliant detail for razor-sharp viewing on-the-go.

Stylish enough to take anywhere, the unit is available in an array of eye-catching colors, including garnet red, emerald green, onyx black, crystal white and classic black. Matching carrying cases and Bluetooth® color-coordinated mice are available to complete the look.

“The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC is your portal to the world, delivering entertainment and computing in a head-turning device that’s small enough to put in your pocket,” said Mike Abary, senior vice president of VAIO product marketing at Sony Electronics. “Designed for the fashionista in all of us, it’s the ideal companion.”

Engineered to provide the feel of a larger notebook, the VAIO Lifestyle PC provides a convenient typing experience by extending the keyboard to the perimeters of the chassis maximizing the typing area. The spacing between keys has also been engineered to help reduce typing mistakes making it perfect for long fingernails.

The notebook incorporates built-in wireless WAN 3G Mobile Broadband, 802.11n wi-fi and Bluetooth technologies. Users can toggle among various wireless options for the most efficient connection – wi-fi for working at  a coffee shop; Bluetooth for peripherals; and Mobile Broadband service on the Verizon Wireless nationwide network when traveling outside the reach of hotspots (subscription required).

The unit features up to four hours of battery life with the included standard capacity battery and eight hours with the large capacity battery (sold separate).

It also incorporates real-time GPS functionality, making it easy to find restaurants, hotels or special sites of interest. Destinations can be found by simply typing in an address or keyword and then following the turn-by-turn directions. The Lifestyle PC even includes estimated drive times to let you know how far you are from a destination. No Internet connection is required in the United States or Canada.

The unit also has an instant-mode option that launches directly into Sony’s Xross Media Bar™ interface, so you can rapidly boot up and access music, video, photos and the Web. A built-in webcam lets you video chat with family, friends and colleagues. A third-party service is required.

The PC comes with the Windows Vista® operating system, supporting office applications and all the software programs routinely found in full-size notebooks. A windows arrangement utility has been added to easily organize all open documents or websites with one touch, positioning them neatly along side each other on a single screen.

The VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC will retail for about $900. It will be available for pre-orders tomorrow online at www.sony.com/pr/pseries. It will also be sold at Sony Style® stores starting later this month and at other major retailers around the country beginning in February.

Thanks to CoderNeedsFood for pointing this out!