Due to the rumors, I believe the new MacBook Pro will end up looking like a fat MacBook Air. All aluminum, black keyboard, rounded edges, circular iSight and best of all… some thickness. Think about it. The MacBook Air looks absolutely beautiful, but it really does not have the power to be worth the money. Also, don’t you just wish sometimes it was just a little bit chunkier? Maybe that is just my opinion, but I cannot use a computer that light and skinny. I need something firm and sturdy, just like the new MacBook Pro is going to be.

While this photo, rumored photo of the new MacBook Pro has been taunted as fake, it is exactly how I wish the new MacBook Pro will look. To me, this looks like the perfect size and the perfect shape. Except for the black outline over the screen, you have to say it does look just like a fat MacBook Air.

These two photos are rumored to be REAL photos of the base of the new MacBook Pro. If you compare these photos too the first photo up top, they somewhat match. They all show slightly more rounded edges, a flat keyboard like on the MacBooks and a cut out on top for the attached screen.

Even if the photo up top is fake, that doesn’t mean it is the wrong way to go. THIS IS HOW APPLE SHOULD MAKE IT. This is the new MacBook Pro should be and I will be slightly disappointed in Apple if it is not.

Apple’s intentions with the iPhone 3G was not to revamp the iPhone, but just to give the simple improvements it needs. The second generation iPhone will need to have new hardware that is way ahead from it’s competitors. I am thinking of a front facing camera that will allow video chatting on the 3G network. Apple has to come up with new innovations just like they did with the iPhone for the second iPhone. A 3G and GPS chipset it not exactly innovation on Apple’s part. A black and white color is not innovation either. The second generation iPhone needs to be distinctively different for it to really be second generation.

From this graph, hopefully you can understand exactly what I am trying to say in this post. Apple is stirring up something great for the second generation iPhone, but were not quite ready to put it in the next release. Apple new the iPhone 3G was not as breakthrough as their normal releases and they made up for it with the price drop. That is why the iPhone 3G is still just, the iPhone. It is not the second generation, it is just something to make it level with it’s competitors. It is an answer to people’s complaints and that is only ONE of the jobs of a second generation device.

UPDATE:

I got a great comment from Hair and I would like to add a little of what he said. When I talked abut how the second generation iPhone needs new innovation, I forgot to give examples of what I mean. This is from Hair’s comment:

Do expect next summer in a 3 Gen, or later in a 4th Gen:
1) Video recording
2) iChat AV (dual camera)
3) Better quality camera (not just more megapixel)
4) Faster processor
5) 32GB
6) Copy and Paste
7) Turn-by-turn GPS Stereo BlueTooth
9) Tethering (with optional $$$ plan)
10) Voice command (not just dialing)

I think this is a good list of things that should be included in the next release. This post’s main purpose was to express my opinion of the iPhone 3G. I believe it needed more innovations and new features for it to really be second generation.

Thank for reading

I did a sparkling review of the V-Moda Vibe Duo iPhone Headphones a while ago. For the past four months they have delivered great sound, great feel and great look. A few days ago, all of that went away.

After not using the headphones for about a week, I picked them up and put them onto my iPhone. About 3 seconds later I noticed that sound was not coming out of 1 ear. I then tried moving around the wire going into the iPhone and noticed the sound coming in and out of the right ear. IN FOUR MONTHS, MY $100 HEADPHONES HAVE A SHORT! You do not expect $100 items to last only 2 months…

At first I thought I just had a defective product, but then I went online to look at some customer reviews. The best place for this is Amazon. Check these screenshots out:

You think thats it?

Quick tip, check Amazon reviews before you buy! Do not buy these headphones, it is a complete waste on money. There is a return policy, but it takes up to 30 days. Plus, this does not mean they will not break again. I am thinking about getting the Bose® in-ear headphones. Maybe these aren’t cheap pieces of garbage like the V-Moda Vibes are.

I’ve been loving my MacBook for a year now. I have a white MacBook with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of RAM and a 160 GB HD. It is fast, light and very reliable. Although sometimes, I do wonder how much more I would have gotten with a MacBook Pro. Since I had never used a MacBook Pro over an hour, I really did not know how much better a MacBook Pro was compared to my MacBook. I had just expected that you get what your pay for. The more money you pay, the faster and better your computer is going to be.

After using a MacBook Pro for a more extensive amount of time and researching more about it, I have come to realize that $1000 more for a MacBook Pro may not have been such a good idea. With the specs and prices that Apple has as of now, the MacBook may be just fine for a lot of the work you need to do.

If you’re deciding between a MacBook Pro or a MacBook, you are probably considering the highest end MacBook and the lowest end MacBook Pro. Lets compare both of these devices. The highest end MacBook is black one with an Intel 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HD. This is all for $1,699.00. The lowest end MacBook Pro has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB of RAM and a 200 GB HD. So, you lose 2 GB of Ram, 50 GB of HD space and you have to pay $300 more! Lets say we match up the specs and give the MacBook Pro 4 GB of RAM and a 250 GB HD. Now it is $2,249.00, a whole $549 more! How is this possible? Well, lets look at what you get for that $549. You get a 15-inch screen as opposed to 13.3-inch screen, a Backlit keyboard and a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card, which is superior to the MacBook Intel GMA X3100. So, this $549 is not giving you any more power or speed, just looks. Is the $549 really worth it? This is why I think the MacBook has a better value than the MacBook Pro.

I run my MacBook with Final Cut Express all the time for various projects. Remember, this is with a 2.16 GHz machine with 2 GB of RAM… not 4. These 2 GBs are well enough for Final Cut. If at all it will take up half of my memory with a full GB left for other apps. So in fact, I disagree that you NEED a MacBook Pro if you want to do video editing. A lot of people will buy MacBook Pros just for this reason. I believe this is a waste of money. I also believe you are loosing a lot of taste when buying the MacBook Pro. For a lot of people, this will not matter, but MacBooks are lighter, sexier and smaller. The MacBooks actually have a much better ratio of power/space compared to the MacBook Pro, which is very important to me. Why pay more for something that looks and feels worse? Oh, I almost forgot, the MacBook’s keyboard is 10X better than the MacBook Pro’s.

There are some reasons you would want to buy a MacBook Pro, which you defiantly should know about.

1) If you want to play games, you may want a MacBook Pro. MacBooks are not able to process a whole lot of visuals. The MacBook’s video card is just not enough for a whole lot of games and you may be really disappointed when your favorite video game starts to lag as soon as it starts. All MacBook Pros can handle your games, whether they are PC virtualized games or native Mac games. For example, Diablo III…

2) If you want to virtualize Windows XP/Vista along with Mac OS X, you may want a MacBook Pro. Sometimes, it may be hard to have a virtual machine running along with Mac OS X. For one reason or another 2.5 or 2.6 GHz can really help everything run smoother.

3) If video editing is your job, you may want a MacBook Pro. I still believe that MacBooks can run Final Cut perfectly fine, but don’t get me wrong, you can always run it better. Final Cut Express and Pro are very different. Express can be run easily on a MacBook Pro, but Pro is a little different. Final Cut Studio comes not only with Final Cut Pro, but also Motion. You can only run about 1/3 of Motion’s filters on a MacBook, so it really is unusable. At the same time, it is mostly only professionals who use Motion. If spending $1000 more for a 2.6 Ghz machine for a little better performance is necessary for your job, a MacBook Pro may be the right computer for you. If you use Final Cut Pro for side jobs or just for fun, there is no reason you need to spend that kind of money.

In conclusion, I really think the MacBook has a ton more value than the MacBook Pro. It is sort of like Apple adds $500 just for that “pro” feel. I am still waiting for some necessary changes that I wrote about here. I think Apple really needs to rethink their notebook product line because I do not see a big enough difference between the two notebooks that makes me want to spend that extra money.

If you are deciding between a MacBook or MacBook Pro, I highly suggest a MacBook. Save your money and get a great, quality machine that will not disappoint you.

Is tech slower or faster in the summer? When I say, “slower or faster,” I am talking about how many new things happen in the tech world. When tech is slow, not many things are happening and well, it can get a bit boring. When tech is fast, developers are coming out with new apps, such as Apple releasing and announcing new things, and the tech world is exciting. The question is, does tech “speed” change or is consistent at different times? In this post, I will focus on summer.

Students take the summer off from school and usually go away for the summer on some sort of trip. Most of the time, they don’t happen to bring their computers. This slows down tech in many ways. Also, a lot of people online are students. These are the people hanging around forums, using youtube, digg, etc. There may be a big slow down in these sort of sites because of all the students who go away. Also, many developers are students, so there may be a slowdown in the production of apps. Then again, there are a lot of students who take the summer off and not go away. These students have a ton of free time without homework and school stress. They roam around the web finding things to do and taking up new projects. I think this may even it out a bit.

Freelancers are like students who do not go to school (that didn’t make much sense, haha). They make a living doing work online at their own pace. They have no boss giving them timelines, due dates, etc. I think summer is like a day at the job for freelancers. It is no different from spring, fall or winter. They have just as much time and just as much will to work. Hey, maybe the heat gets to them and makes them want to sleep longer. Who knows….

Summer for company workers is another day at the Job. But in terms of tech, I have to argue that Summer makes a difference. Apple is one of the biggest tech companies in the world and they are always releasing things in the summer. For example, July 11th is going to be HUGE. We’re talking MobileMe, iPhone 3g and iPhone 2.0! Last year was iPhone 1.0. I don’t remember the years before, but the point is, summer is big for Apple lovers.

My conclusion is that tech is FASTER in the summer for a few reasons:

1) Apple releases products and that causes a ton of hype. Whether or not students are out on vacation, Apple’s announcements are still much more powerful than anything students can do. If you think about it, Apple is sort of is in control of how fast tech is. If Apple has been boring, a lot of people get bored themselves. Even I have trouble writing sometimes when there is no Apple news.

2) Summer is mostly the same for everyone. Freelancers and other companies are not changed by summer. It doesn’t matter how good you feel being on vacation (assuming you are a student) it is the same for everyone else in this tech world. These companies keep working and the freelancers keep working as well.

3) Students have more time to waste. Students like me are going to come up with as many ways to kill time as possible. The best way to kill time is to do something fun, like writing. Even really smart students will start projects and end up with cool new apps. Even though the lack of students away from the computer slows some tech down, the time spent by the students online in the summer makes up for it.

What do you think? Does summer feel slow or fast so far? Is tech slower or faster in the summer? Comment and start up a discussion!

Every modern browser has a “bookmarks toolbar.” This toolbar is made for easy access to your favorite bookmarks. The bookmarks you always go to and spend a lot of your time on. I am always changing these bookmarks based on which ones I think deserve the space more. Since there is only a limited amount of space in this toolbar, you have to make hard decisions on what bookmarks to put there and which to leave out. Do you see where I’m going with this?

There should be a social bookmarking site, similar to Delicious where its sole purpose it to share your toolbar bookmarks. By having everyone share their bookmarks that they value the most, there would be a small amount of bad content. This would help people find good websites, and get the most out of their bookmark toolbar.

Everyone would have an account and you would have to download a plugin or extension that reads your bookmark toolbar and syncs it up with your account. You could see anyones bookmark toolbar live at anytime and see a list of recent changes. As a user, you can hide bookmarks, rate your bookmarks and comment of your bookmarks. You can even have a list of bookmarks that are close to being on your toolbar.

The front page would have a list of most popular bookmarks on people’s toolbars. It would also have a list of users who’s toolbars are highest rated.

I think this could be really cool even though it does not have as much range as some websites like Digg or Delicious. The reason I think this is a lot different that just finding the most popular sites on Alexa is because even though Google is #2 on Alexa, there is no way it will be #2 on this website. People put interesting sites in their toolbars, not search engines, etc. They put blogs, tools, web apps and more. People want to know what websites people like to visit the most and that is what the purpose of this site could be.

Anyone want to build this for me? Also, please suggest a name for the website in the comments. I have tried really hard to think of one, but they are all bad… Also give me feedback. What other features could the site offer that would be different from other social news sites. Thanks!

Just recently, Secure-Mac and Intego discovered two Mac trojans. This seems hard to believe since a lot of people always thought that Mac OS X is free of all viruses and Spyware, but this is not true. Mac OS X is surely a lot more secure than windows, but there are some flaws. This is why you always see Apple releasing security software updates. Mac OS X is much harder to infect with a virus, but it is definitely possible. There has just not been enough hackers out there to figure it out.

Secure-Mac discovered a virus called “AppleScript.THT Trojan Horse.”

The Trojan horse runs hidden on the system, and allows a malicious user complete remote access to the system, can transmit system and user passwords, and can avoid detection by opening ports in the firewall and turning off system logging. Additionally, the AppleScript.THT Trojan horse can log keystrokes, take pictures with the built-in Apple iSight camera, take screenshots, and turn on file sharing. The Trojan horse exploits a recently discovered vulnerability with the Apple Remote Desktop Agent, which allows it to run as root.

Yeah, thats one hell of a trojan… Let’s look at the one Intego found. The trojan disguises itself as “PokerGame”

The Trojan horse, when run, activates ssh on the Mac on which it is running, then sends the user name and password hash, along with the IP address of the Mac, to a server. It asks for an administrator’s password after displaying a dialog saying, “A corrupt preference file has been detected and must be repaired.” Entering the administrator’s password enables the program to accomplish its tasks. After gaining ssh access to a Mac, malicious users can attempt to take control of them, delete files, damage the operating system, or much more.

You have to say to yourself, how is this possible after so long that there has been no trojans or viruses? Is Leopard less secure? No, it’s even more secure than Tiger. How is it easier to make viruses for Macs? The answer is that it is not easier, it is just that there are more people to figure out Mac OS X’s flaws.

There is no OS in the world that is perfect. They all have hidden openings and flaws. Once all the hackers and virus makes get frustrated because no one is downloading their viruses, they will switch over and study Mac OS X. It’s only a matter of time until Apple has to really get serious about security on their operating system. With Snow Leopard coming out in about a year, supposedly having major security updates, maybe this will hold the hackers back a while.

As you can see, AppleScript is very dangerous, so you better start downloading your anti-virus now… I suggest ClamXav.

With the complicated issues of AT&T data and talk plans, very few people will waste their money on a iPhone that only has few changes. Unless AT&T changes their minds about the plans, some people will have to pay 2 plans at once if they get an iPhone 3G and don’t forget the fact that the iPhone 3G plans are significantly more expensive. The only iPhone users that will upgrade are the ones that need to for their job, or are just very wealthy.

AT&T is now making all iPhone 3G buyers activate their iPhones in the store, which means there is no way to unlock the iPhone…unless you want to pay two plans at once. A ton of people bought the iPhone just to unlock it and if this is impossible now, these people will not buy iPhones. AT&T is doing this to stop people from unlocking, but one effect of that is less “unlockers” buying iPhones. It may not be such a big deal for AT&T, but it is for Apple. Apple made a lot of money from people buying iPhones even if they unlocked it.

All iPhone users put up with being locked into a two year contract because the plans were reasonable. I was an existing AT&T customer, so I am only paying $30 a month for unlimited data and 300 text messages a month. For the iPhone 3G, people now have to pay $10 extra a month, making some people pay $100 a month depending on the plan. This is ridiculous and AT&T is stopping a ton of people from buying iPhones because of this. Sure, maybe the iPhone is only $200 now, but in the end, you have to pay $240 more than what you would for a first generation iPhone. People are getting really turned off to the iPhone now and saying that, “Steve Jobs lied.” AT&T is really hurting Apple and the iPhone

Once iPhone sales start to significantly drop compared to the iPhone sales now, Apple will realize that they need to get some new carriers into the house. They will realize that they need to give it to T-Mobile and Verizon in order to sell more iPhones. With an open market, carriers can compete and there will be always be a lower priced carrier. This way, no one carrier can do what ever they want and price as high as they want. AT&T knows they have no one to compete with as long as they stop people from unlocking so they can price as high as they want. Steve, please unlock the iPhone.

UPDATE:

After a lot of complaint, I think I need to clarify this post a little more. If you thought that I did not back my point up enough with evidence, please read this first. Hopefully after you can understand what I was trying to write in the article:

The main point of this post was saying that AT&T is hurting iPhone sales by raising the price by $10, locking the contract into 2 years and making you activate in store.

Activating in-store will not allow any unlocking which takes a hit at a big market share. Being locked into the 2 year contract means it is possible (depending on AT&T’s upcoming actions) that upgrades will have to pay 2 contracts until their old one it up. The third point was bad and it kind of ruined my post. At the time of writing it, I was trying to say two things:

1) having the 3G iPhone be more expensive than the old one in a 2 year span makes people think apple “lied” when he made the $200 price mark. This could set a bad reputation and take off some sales.

2) its getting so expensive that it is getting out of the range more and more people. making the sales go down…

If this is not clear enough, please convince me to take it down and I will.

I’ve seen a lot of blog posts saying that MobileMe, the new .Mac replacement, should be free. When I first thought of this, I agreed. This was because I wasn’t yet familiar with the new changes made. .Mac was never worth the $99 and this is why I had such a negative outlook on it. After looking over every feature of MobileMe and watching all the demo videos, I came to realize that it is a really amazing piece of technology. Here are my 5 reasons MobileMe is worth the $99 (if you have the money).

1) The first example I have is DrobBox, a very similar web service to the new iDisk. If you have watched this video demo of iDisk, you can see that iDisk is a bit more user friendly. Oh, and I almost forgot, with iDisk you get 20GB, not 2GB. This could be the #1 reason to get MoblieMe. Easy backup and easy sharing.

2) Another example of this would be the Web Gallery. Similar free services such as flickr and DropBox pictures can’t compare to the elegancy of Web Gallery. In order to understand this, you really have to watch the video. With the free services, there are limits to what you can do. With Web Gallery, the only limit is the number of photos you own. With something like the Dropbox pictures folder, I feel that I would only put in the pictures I need to share that moment, but with Web Gallery I feel I would put all my pictures up, just incase I need to share any at anytime. To me, this is a great investment.

3) There is also no other web service that is nearly as elegant as Me.com. In the WWDC Keynote, Apple gave a great demo of Me.com showing just how powerful the web service is. Phil Schiller kept pointing out how much the site actually feels and acts like a real app. This kind of quality is impossible to find anywhere else on the Internet and it is something I value a lot. The fact that everything is synced up within a matter of seconds and also works just like it would on your computer, is worth the money.

4) Why is everyone forgetting that along with everything new in MobileMe, we still have all the great old features. Back To My Mac is an amazing feature where you can remotely control your second mac from anywhere in the world. What about syncing preferences throughout many machines. You can sync your bookmarks, dock items and all other preferences so that all of your computers have the same feel and control. MobileMe will also come with the ability to actually use iWeb and get your own server space. People seem to forget these great features that will still be there when MobileMe comes out.

5) With push e-mail, contacts and calender, you are never away from your information. You don’t ever have to worry about not having the files on your computer where ever you are because it is automatically pushed. Never again will you be away from your important phone numbers, documents or calender events. Most people who are very concerned with their important contacts, events and emails are going to always want to have them, where every they are. MobileMe is not just a luxury, it’s a reliable safety precision. Nonetheless, there is no other better or free way to do this.

MobileMe isn’t for everyone and it is not worth it for everyone. I think that people who own a lot of pictures, own important files that they could not live without, have $100 and are away from their computers every once in a while or more. If you are one of these people, you should get MobileMe, it’s worth it. I wish it was free, but it is not and I think that it the quality that Apple has put into MobileMe deserves the price rank of $99.

Are you going to get MobileMe? If not, give me your 5 reasons why you don’t think it’s worth it.

Apple’s intentions of this is to allow enterprises to distribute apps that only they can use, but this method of distributing apps could possible be an end to jailbreaking. Jailbreaking’s purpose would be to allow us to run apps on our iPhone that Apple doesn’t allow to be in the App Store.

Well, these apps that the enterprises make will not be in the App Store, they will be online. They are available online to download and then sync up with iTunes. Do you see where I am going with this? This system is made for enterprises, but how does Apple control that? What stops random developers from calling themselves an enterprise? What will stop people from making apps, distributing them online, authorizing all the iPhones in the world and having them able to sync up with iTunes? Apple will have no clue which apps you download from the App Store and which ones you downloaded from online. This is why, essentially, you should be able to download any app from online and sync it up with your iPhone. There would be no need to jailbreak…

This is based off of what Jobs said. Maybe there will be a lot more restrictions on this system of distributing apps and Apple will only allow special, and real enterprises to do this. The reason I am raising this question is because I have no idea how they would actually do that. How can they make it so only a certain people can distribute apps like using that system. Eventually people will figure out how to write them so they can be synced with iTunes. What stops people from using this system to distribute apps that aren’t allowed in the App Store?

Is this possible? Does anyone know anything more about this than I do?