Snow Leopard Coming August 28th?

It appears that the boys over in Cupertino have been busy working on getting Snow Leopard ready for its September launch. Developers have been receiving new builds of the OS on an almost weekly basis. With the latest build many developers cited they thought the release was the Gold Master candidate. This means that this is the build that Apple feels is ready to be struck onto discs and shipped to consumers. What this means for us consumer folk, is that the release date may be moved up to August 28th according to some rumors found here. Only time will tell when it will be released but this is exciting news for anyone patiently (or not so patiently) awaiting the release of Snow Leopard this fall.

iPhone 3.0.1

If you have an iPhone and have OS version 3.0 you need to sync your phone today to get new version 3.0.1. This release addresses the much publicized SMS exploit. Read more about this issue here. This is an instance where an update WILL help and is needed to correct a pretty serious security risk. This does not just effect the iPhone either. Microsoft based and Android based mobile phones have the same issue because they use a similar method in handling SMS messages. So, if you have one of these types of phones please look for an update.

Microsoft Plans to Raise Price of Netbooks

Why oh why would I write an article about the monolithic beast that is Microsoft? Well, that is quite simple. Apple controls a little under 10% of the global consumer market share, and desires to have a bigger piece of that pie. Microsoft owns 80+% and would like to get to 100%. Over the past 2 years Microsoft has played a dangerous game with regard to pricing. They figured they would drop the bottom out of the PC market and sell tons and tons of units at a lower margin. However this strategy has  failed them. Read the rest of this entry »

Blackberry Sync

So, you have had a blackberry for the last few years because you love how easy it is to use with your business. Or maybe your cell phone carrier only gives you that choice and you cant switch because of work obligations. Here lies your dilemma. Your blackberry cant sync natively with your mac. So how do you sync your contacts, calendars and emails? Well, finally, there is a solution for you coming this fall.

Blackberry Desktop Manager is coming to a mac near you in september. It will allow you to sync up your blackberry with you mac in a nice neat location keeping all of your info centralized in one location. Read more here.

When it arrives you’ll have a suite that’s able to sync iTunes, add and remove apps, perform firmware updates, create backups and restore from them, and manage multiple BlackBerrys at the same time.

This is terrific news for all blackberry owners and mac owners alike. This gives one more mark in the pros column for prospective mac owners who are on the fence. Enterprise support has always been one area many feel Apple lacks, but with this desktop app those who are unable to get iPhones will still be able to sync their phones with their Mac computers.

As always BestMacs will be happy to assist you in any deployment of cellphones with your mac.

Tablet Macs?

Recently many Mac websites have been reporting the rumor that Apple will be releasing a nine inch net book that will supposedly have touch screen capabilities. The most recent site to report this rumor is macrumors.com and this article can be read here. Many articles are claiming that many hardware manufacturers have been reporting or confirming that Apple is on its way to releasing it’s very own net book/tablet computer however, this does not seem like a move that Apple is likely to make.

Read why I don’t think this is likely…

Apple’s Business Thriving

Apple Thriving Amid Sluggish PC Market

Everyone has been much more in tune to the economy lately, which is why I thought the above article might be of interest. To summarize it for you, despite the economy, Apple is growing far more rapidly than the computer market as a whole, commercial shipments up 25% for Apple to 1% for PCs in April, which is previous to the new MacBook Pro models. The author also draws the comparison of Mac to PC, with prices. The cheapest MacBook Pro is almost double the cost of the cheapest HP laptop.

I would be curious to see more recent figures on Apple’s growth, as I imagine the new less expensive MacBook Pros, the new iPhone 3GS and the educational promotion will effect Apple’s sales over the summer.

Of course, growth has it’s pros and cons for a company and its followers and it is said that as Apple’s market share increases, malware will become an issue. This is just a theory, but a threatening one at the least. The growth has a lot of positive aspects too. More Mac users likely means more hardware and software being Mac-compatible and that hardware and software being more affordable; that’s never a bad thing! Also, more Apple stores will be popping up and hopefully more service providers overall. We already have iCafe in Lawrence and the Apple Stores in Leawood and Kansas City, but much of Kansas is out of luck if they have an issue with their computer.

How do you feel about Apple’s growth? Positive? Negative?

Happy iPhone Day!

from InformationWeek

Happy iPhone 3GS Day! The new iPhone 3GS was released today. It sounds like there has been a mixture of crazy lines at some Apple Stores and few people waiting at others. Apple also reported that hundreds of thousands of iPhones had been pre-ordered for pick up at the Apple Store or delivery.

I read a few articles on the new iPhones, to give you the general impression. One article mentions how much faster apps are to load up, another talks about how the new iPhone is less likely to get smudges on it than previous generations. There’s a youtube video out where you can check out the speed for yourself. The reviews thus far have been excellent for the new device. Many rumors had been flying that AT&T would be charging $55/month for tethering with the iPhone. AT&T has announced that this isn’t true, although they have not said when tethering will be available or how much it will cost.

If you did purchase a new iPhone, there is also some news that the activation may take up to 2 days, because of the overwhelming number of new iPhones being activated. Be patient!

I’m sure you will be hearing more about the new iPhone soon!

Buy now or wait?

Apple recently updated their MacBook Pro line to include firewire 800 across the board and now includes the ultra sleek 13 inch model. Another product many are patiently awaiting is the latest iteration of Apple’s OS Snow Leopard. With the release of Snow Leopard falling mid-way through September many consumers are faced with the question: “Do i upgrade to new hardware now? Or should i wait so that my new hardware includes new software as well.”

BestMacs has previously posted on our stance regarding upgrades and I feel it still holds true here. We always prefer the wait and see approach. However, Apple has just made it a little more difficult. It turns out that now if you were on the fence about buying a new machine, Apple is going to give you a copy of Snow Leopard for $9.95 from here until it is released. Apple’s “Up to Date” program gives you the incentive to purchase a new machine now and not worry about getting slammed with an additional fee later. One thing of particular interest to me is that this program also works with Apple Certified Refurbished Products as well.

Stay tuned for more news on Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard and Apple’s dirty little secret

As one of the last of our WWDC posts, I want to talk a little bit about Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.  It may end up being the most important software upgrade Apple has ever done. To understand its significance and why you will want it, you’ll need a little bit of history to set the stage.

For the most part, there’s not a whole lot of new stuff to get excited about.  Yes, there are a few new features – some really good ones, like OpenCL, Grand Central, and QuickTime X.  I’m going to save my thoughts on Exchange support for another time (beyond this article: it begs the question on whether Apple’s own server is now second class to Microsoft’s groupware solution or if Snow Leopard Server will be up to task).

The name and the price tell the tale of Snow Leopard.  And it makes more sense to people, like many of you reading this, who have been using the Mac for a long time… and also to people like me, who have been supporting the Mac for a long time.  Now maybe this is just me being a conspiracy theorist and no, I haven’t done a lot of homework on this – it’s just a combination of remembering things I’ve read and my own gut feeling on some recent experiences.

Read on for why Snow Leopard is most important to the future of the Mac

The New MacBook Pro Product Line

At WWDC this week, Apple released the new MacBook Pros. They have released a 13’’ MacBook Pro, in addition to upgrades to the 15’’ and 17’’ models. They got rid of the aluminum unibody MacBook in favor of the 13’’ MacBook Pro. You can find all of the details on Apple’s website, but I will basically give you a run down about some of the changes.

Read the Summary of the MacBook Pros