Iphone Updates

Apple has topped the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in the personal computer category for an eighth consecutive year, achieving a score of 87 points. This is Apple’s highest score ever on the index and nine points ahead of second place HP. The ACSI includes tablets in the PC category, and the organization says in its press release, “Apple’s winning combination of innovation and product diversification — including spinning off technologies into entirely new directions — has kept the company consistently at the leading edge.”

Stephanie Reitz of Associated Press reports on the growing use of
iPad in public secondary school classrooms this fall, noting a “move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.” Educator benefits range from using iPad for interactive demonstrations of math solutions to teaching children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities. Principal Patrick Larkin of Boston’s Burlington High School calls iPad a better long-term investment than textbooks, saying, “The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials.”

Broadcom is really throwing its weight behind this whole NFC thing. Its new family of BCM2079x chips have moved to a 40nm manufacturing process which cuts power use by 90-percent and board size by 40-percent. Broadcom claims they’re the smallest and most power efficient NFC chips on the market — and we’re not in any position to refute that assertion. The company’s Maestro tools have also been upgraded to let their NFC chips speak to a device’s Bluetooth and WiFi radios. This could be used to quickly pair with other gadgets using Bluetooth or stream media to a connected television. For more details check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading Broadcom unveils smaller, more power efficient 40nm NFC chips

Broadcom unveils smaller, more power efficient 40nm NFC chips originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know the high-end HTC Vigor exists, but we’re still in the dark about its precise specs — not least because a previous ‘leak’ turned out to be double Dutch. Now an Italian dude by the name of Fabio Mele reckons he’s gotten hold of Verizon’s ROM for the Vigor and extracted a ton of information, including tutorial videos (which yielded the render above) and key hardware credentials. And they’re some credentials: a 4.3-inch screen with 720 lines of LG-rivalling HD craziness, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB RAM and an 8MP rear camera. The reported ROM also contains HTC’s much-hyped Beats Audio software, which we’ve experimented with on the Un-American Sensation XE. We’re taking all this with a pinch of salt if you don’t mind, Signor Mele, but we want to believe you, we really do.

[Thanks, Giuseppe]

Filed under: Cellphones

Another alleged HTC Vigor leak: HD display, 1.5GHz dual-core, Beats Audio originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung just took the wraps off its Omnia W, which looks like a non-US variant of the Focus Flash we’ve already heard about via AT&T. The handset will debut in Italy and start spreading across the Old World and Latin America from next month. It’ll sport Windows Phone 7.5 out of the box, a 3.7-inch 800×480 Super AMOLED display, 1.4GHz processor, VGA webcam on the front and rear 5MP shooter with 720p video recording. We expect it’ll go head-to-head with HTC’s 3.8-inch Radar when the War of the Mangoes finally kicks off.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Samsung’s Omnia W: Mango, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED, 1.4GHZ processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Somber news coming out of Palo Alto today, where Julius Blank, the man who helped found the groundbreaking chipmaker Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, has passed away at the age of 86. The Manhattan-born Blank (pictured third from left, above) began his engineering career in 1952, when he joined AT&T’s Western Electric plant in New Jersey. As a member of the engineering group at the plant, Blank helped create phone technology that allowed users to dial long-distance numbers without going through an operator. It was also at Western Electric where he met fellow engineer Eugene Kleiner. In 1956, Blank and Kleiner left AT&T to work at the lab of Nobel Prize-winning physicist William B. Shockley, but departed just one year later (amid to start Fairchild, alongside a group of six other computer scientists that included future Intel Corporation founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. At their new labs, Blank and his peers developed an inexpensive method for manufacturing silicon chips, earning them $1.5 million in capital from a single investor. As the only two with any manufacturing experience, Blank and Kleiner were charged with bringing the dream to fruition — a task that required them to build the chips from scratch, beginning with the machinery for growing silicon crystals. They succeeded, of course, and in 1969, Blank left Fairchild to start Xicor, a tech firm that Intersil would later buy for $529 million, in 2004. But his legacy will forever be linked to those early days at Fairchild, where, as Blank described in a 2008 interview, he and his colleagues were able to experience the unique thrill of “building something from nothing.” Julius Blank is survived by his two sons, Jeffrey and David, and two grandsons.

[Photo courtesy of Joan Seidel / AP 1999]

Julius Blank, chip-making pioneer and Fairchild co-founder, dies at 86 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know EVs of the future will lose their ability to silently kill, but how about replicating engine noise for the enjoyment of bonafide petrolheads? Eagle-eyed readers will note that’s a promised feature of the upcoming (but ever-delayed) Fisker Karma, but here beating it to market is BMW’s upcoming M5 — sort of. München’s implementation coined “Active Sound Design,” won’t blast engine machinations on the outside, but instead internally overlays the harmonic soundtrack of the twin turbo V8 over internal speakers as you drive. That audial racket is based on throttle position, engine revs and speed, and gets even louder when the car is set in Sport or Sport+ modes. No word on if you’ll be able to customize with other soundtracks (a la Karma), but there’s nothing a little enthusiast hackery can’t fix…

BMW’s Active Sound Design is like putting your head under the hood of the new M5 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Samsung announces Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE handsets for Korean market

Samsung announces Galaxy S II LTE and Galaxy S II HD LTE handsets for Korean market originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If the only thing standing between you and the purchase of an iPad is the existence of a large, remote controlled spy tank, we’ve got some rough news for your bank account. Brookstone is offering up the Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank, an iPad / iPhone / iPod touch-controlled toy tank that can capture audio and video and send it back to your iOS device. The tank can be controlled at distances of up to 200 feet and works around walls. The app is available as a free download and the tank will run you $150. That price includes six AA batteries, but apparently won’t cover therapy for distressed house pets.

Continue reading Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank gives your cats another reason to hate your iPad (video)

Rover App-Controlled Spy Tank gives your cats another reason to hate your iPad (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 04:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like those rumors of a streaming deal between Netflix and Dreamworks Animation were as good as advertised. Details are still fuzzy at this point, but the New York Times is reporting that the two parties have reached an agreement to stream Dreamworks’ movies and TV projects, as part of a deal worth an estimated $30 million. Under the contract, which replaces a similar pay TV pact between Dreamworks and HBO, Netflix will begin offering exclusive access to the studio’s new films in 2013, with Antz, Kung Fu Panda and other titles from its library slated to become available for streaming sometime thereafter. The company won’t be confined to selling digital copies of Dreamworks’ movies within a specific period, either, drawing a major distinction between itself and HBO, which requires studio partners to halt digital sales outside of an exclusive window. HBO probably isn’t too thrilled to see Netflix strike what Dreamworks chief exec Jeffrey Katzenberg called a “game-changing deal,” but it also has a new partnership of its own with Summit Studios, which it brought on board after letting Dreamworks out of its contract a full two years early. We’re still waiting for official confirmation of Netflix’s latest deal, but we’ll let you know as soon as we get it.

NYT: Netflix strikes deal with Dreamworks, will begin streaming movies, TV specials in 2013 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 03:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, we love it when phones and spec lists leak out into the wild, but there’s nothing like an official announcement to set the record straight. When we last saw the Huawei Honor, it claimed to have a single-core 1.4GHz processor, a 4-inch FWVGA (854×480) capacitive screen, and a radio primed for European and Asian bands. The official word? It’s got all of that, but it’s also packing an 8 megapixel rear facing camera (2MP up front), 512MB of RAM (with 4G ROM memory, and expandable up to 32GB) and a hefty 1900mAh battery. The Gingerbread powered handset is a hair thicker than we expected as well, measuring in at 10.9mm at its thinnest point. What else is new? Oh, just a handful of new frequencies, including GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 /1900 and the WCDMA/HSPA+ 900 / AWS / 2100 bands (compatible with T-Mobile’s US 3G). No word on price just yet, but the DLNA-certified powerhouse should be hitting Asia-Pacific, China, Russia, and the Middle East in “Classic Black” the fourth quarter, with more colors (and hopefully, regions) dropping sometime during the Christmas season. Want the full PR and official spec list? Skip on past the break.

Continue reading Huawei makes Honor official, forgets to mention its other virtues

Huawei makes Honor official, forgets to mention its other virtues originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google+ app update welcomes iPhone users to Hangouts originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprinkle is a physics-based puzzle game that’s centered around water. You control a spigot that’s mounted on a crane, and then you blast water to interact with various items in the environment, such as boulders (that actually light on fire, sometimes trouble) and blocks. The overall goal is to keep the ingame characters from lighting on fire, and you can do that by flooding their general area. As with most games of this ilk, things start off simply, but ramp up to get pretty complicated, and the fire itself (along with a limited supply of water) means time is of the essence in most of the levels. Burn a house down, and you’re done.

The game’s got plenty of content, with 48 levels and more on the way. I found it to be a little persnickety in terms of controls: the water is executed brilliantly with really amazing physics, graphics, and even sounds, but the items will sometimes flood around the way you want them to, and sometimes not. Still, the spigot itself controls very well, and restarting a level is easy if things don’t quite go your way.

Sprinkle is definitely one to see, especially if you’re up for taking on some more physics puzzles with a fairly new medium to play with. The universal app is available for the iPhone and iPad for 99 cents.

Daily iPhone App: Sprinkle originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CNET is reporting that the San Francisco Police Department is poking around local bar Cava 22, the same establishment where a prototype iPhone was supposed to have been lost a little while ago. The owner of the bar says that the SFPD came by asking for surveillance videotape of July 21 and 22 (the days the phone was supposedly lost in the bar), and while he’s got it and is willing to share, he hasn’t heard back from the officers.

But there may be more going on here than just a lost iPhone; this is of course the same case where SFPD officers “assisted” Apple in an investigation, going so far as to wait while Apple detectives entered a citizen’s home, apparently searching for information related to the lost iPhone. The SFPD is investigating that situation (though the department does admit that the “assistance” took place), and it’s possible that this surveillance footage is for that research.

At any rate, the case isn’t exactly closed. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever hear anything else about this one, unless the cops did violate the law in some way by helping Apple’s investigation. Even if a lost iPhone was found, Apple wouldn’t exactly go yelling it from the rooftops, and the SFPD probably won’t be happy to publicize any of their officers’ behavior, either. The investigation may still be ongoing, but we’ll have to wait and see if and when the public is let in on any of its findings.

[via 9to5Mac]

San Fran PD looking for security footage at lost iPhone bar originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From an upstart outsider to the most profitable cellphone manufacturer. From a PC also-ran to the laptop of the future. In less than two years, revitalizing an entire device category and disrupting just about every media business you can name. Not only becoming the world’s most valuable company, but seeing the stock continue to rise even after the exit of the company’s visionary founder.

For those of us who lived through the lean years of Apple, being around to witness all this is a bit strange. It’s as if we had been diligently preaching the benefits of a meat-free diet for years, only to wake up one morning and discover that everyone we knew had gone vegan overnight. Dealing with success is certainly better than the alternative, but some may mourn the passing of the special minority status we enjoyed as the Mac Elite. Now we have to figure out how to avoid saying “Yes, we told you so!” every five minutes.

That’s what’s on the agenda for tonight’s TUAW Talkcast: finding our way forward in a post-beleaguered Apple world. We’ll review the week’s news as well, and of course your questions and comments make the show better each time.

To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 — during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you’ve got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

What do we do when we win? Tonight’s Talkcast, 10 pm ET originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Programs that offer corporate some latitude and personal discretion in their technology choices are growing, said the NYT on Friday, and while the relaxing of IT standards mandates means there are plenty of market losers (HP, Dell, Lenovo, RIM and other enterprise-centric vendors), there’s one big winner: Apple.

At companies like Kraft Foods, rather than providing some employees with a standard laptop configuration, a stipend is offered to let staffers simply go out and get what they want. This shift toward a ‘bring your own device’ policy, also in place at companies like Netflix and Citrix, provides a substantial advantage for those technology companies that know how to market to consumers instead of corporations.

A Forrester Research study cited in the article also shows how IT’s ability to lock down the ecosystem has been challenged by smartphone preference, with 48 percent of the surveyed information workers buying their phones with no regard for corporate standard-setting. Forrester’s Ted Schadler sees this shift in the balance of device-approval power being driven by change at the top: “What broke the camel’s back was the iPad, because executives brought it into the company and said ‘Hey, you’ve got to support this.’”

The full measure of the Mac’s benefit from these moves toward IT openness may be hard to quantify, but in the case of Citrix, it’s there in black and white: 46 percent of the nearly 1,000 participating BYOD employees chose to buy a Mac. Citrix’s CIO, Paul Martine, delivers the understated quote of the day: “That was a little bit of a surprise.”

If you’re an enterprise employee or an IT leader, please share your Apple integration experience or your BYOD stories in our comments or our feedback page.

‘Bring your own device’ programs give Apple a boost in the enterprise originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warning: This post contains an unusually high level of cheesy late-night TV ad phrases.

It’s not often that we at TUAW get to review a product with that “As Seen On TV” label, but a new iPhone case that was sent for testing is exactly that. The Callet (US$19.95) is a simple product that takes a silicone wrap for iPhone 3G/3GS/4 and puts a few slots in the back where your drivers license and a credit card can be stashed. It’s a case! It’s a wallet! It’s a Callet!

But wait, there’s more! The Callet actually works quite well. Let’s face it; it’s not the sexiest iPhone case on the planet, but it does exactly what it’s advertised to do — protect your iPhone from bumps and scrapes as well as let you do away with the need to carry a wallet.

The silicone material is semi-transparent, so you can see the Apple logo glowing through the Callet. It comes in four — count ‘em — four exciting colors: black, white, pink and blue. It also has holes in all the right places. There’s a big honkin’ gap at the bottom for your dock connector and speakers, another pair for the volume and mute switches, one for the headphone jack and noise cancellation mic, one for the on/off/sleep/wake switch, and even one for the SIM slot. But that’s not all — there’s also a hole for the camera and flash! The only tears you’ll cry will be tears of joy!

How much would you pay? At one easy payment of $19.95, the Callet isn’t the cheapest silicone sleeve that I’ve seen, but hey — how many of the others also act as a wallet? It really, really works! Yep, all you need to do is push a couple of credit cards or your driver’s license in the back, and you’re in business. You can set it and forget it.

You can order your Callet online now. Operators are standing by to take your call! Don’t delay!

The Callet: It’s a case! It’s a wallet! originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WNYC reported this week on the emergence of the iPad for point-of-sale terminal use, particularly in small establishments that want to minimize the space requirements of a traditional register while adding a bit of Apple cachet to go with their cash drawer.

Stephen Nessen’s story highlighted a Brooklyn artisanal ice cream parlor, Ample Hills Creamery, which has deployed the ShopKeep POS system to handle the counter. Rather than requiring an in-store server to process transactions, ShopKeep’s iPad app sends the sales data directly to the company’s cloud service for reporting and accounting purposes.

While the data transfer requires Internet access, an outage won’t shut down your checkout line; the app will store all the transactions locally while offline and then batch them up to the cloud when service is restored. The company also suggests going with a hybrid Cradlepoint router that can instantly switch from conventional to 3G/4G wireless connectivity as needed, or work in mobile-only mode for food trucks or craft fairs. Basic service covering one register starts at $49 a month (that’s BYOiPad, and you still need to buy your cash drawer, printer and other gear).

ShopKeep, launched in August of this year, is reportedly intuitive and easy to use, but it’s suited primarily for outlets with 20 270 items of inventory or fewer; large and complex stores apparently aren’t a good match. While the iPad probably won’t replace the vast majority of POS systems anytime soon, the fact that the 17-month old device has shown up subbing into retail contexts ranging from wine lists to menus to cash registers shows just how flexible this Swiss Army Tablet has become.

ShopKeep point-of-sale mixes iPad with cloud service for small retailers originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Word does not support Lion’s “Versions” feature yet, but there’s no reason to panic. There are a few options that you can use to cobble together a work- around until the Mac BU team updates the Office suite.

Also worth mentioning: although I am focusing on Microsoft Word, the same technique can be used in just about any word processing or text editing application.

“Does the app provide any auto-save settings?”

The first thing to check is whether the application that you are using offers any auto-save or auto-recover options, even if it doesn’t support Versions specifically. Microsoft Word offers two auto-save options.

To find them, launch Word, then go to Preferences -> Save and check the options shown below:

The middle underlined option is the most important: it says to save auto-recover information every minute. I think the default is every 10 minutes, but a lot can change in 10 minutes.

The top checkbox is optional, but creating a backup means that you have another way to recover if something goes wrong. Options never hurt. These backups are stored in the same directory as the original, and the filenames end in “~” which is a long-standing convention for backup file names.

The third is also optional, but personally I prefer the older .doc format simply because it’s more compatible with other non-Microsoft applications. The XML-based .docx format also got a bad rap previously for compatibility issues with Dropbox, although if you’re running the current version of the cloud storage utility you shouldn’t have any problems.

(That said, .docx is the better format, not to mention the more modern format. I think of the “.doc or .docx?” choice sort of like choosing between .mp3 or .m4a: the newer formats have technical advantages, but not as many applications support them. The difference, of course, is that it’s usually pretty simple to convert between .doc and .docx.)

“Where does the app store files?”

Some applications automatically store files in a certain folder structure, and you can’t move them (at least not without getting into creating links, which may or may not work well). Text editors and word processors, however, generally let you choose where to store files you create; Office also has settings for default folders for saving and auto-recovery under Preferences -> File Locations:

Note that setting the default for “Documents” does not mean that you can’t change it for individual files later, it just tells Microsoft Office where to start when opening or saving new files.

You can also change the location of the AutoRecover files. I put mine into ~/Dropbox/Backups/Microsoft Office/ because if the computer I’m on dies completely, I can access the data from any other Dropbox-connected account. Is this an unlikely scenario/edge case? Absolutely. Does it hurt to set it anyway? Nope.

“But my application doesn’t have those settings!”

Check out Default Folder X which, as the name implies, can set the default folder for just about any application (plus other things).

Dropbox

No doubt you noticed that I suggested using Dropbox to save the files. That’s not just because they are available online or on any iOS device. Dropbox also keeps every revision for the past 30 days. That means that every time you hit “Save,” a separate version is saved on Dropbox.

Browsing Dropbox revisions isn’t as visually slick as using Versions on Lion. To view them, select the file in Finder, and then use the Dropbox icon on your Finder toolbar, or Control-click (right-click, or two-finger click) on the file and use the Dropbox contextual menu.

That will launch the Dropbox website and show you a listing of all the versions, and give you a chance to download them (some file formats can even be previewed online). While Dropbox only saves 30 days’ worth of revisions, Dropbox Pro users also have the option to add the Pack-Rat feature which will keep revisions indefinitely.

With every save, you are creating an off-site backup of your latest work, so even if you only use one computer, Dropbox is the place to save your most important and most often changed files.

“But what if I forget to press save? My app doesn’t have any sort of auto-save functionality!”

Don’t fret if your app doesn’t have auto-save; you can add it to any application very simply by using Keyboard Maestro. It’s as simple as creating a macro which says “If I am using {insert application name here}, and there is a ‘Save’ button, press it every X seconds or minutes.” I’ve created just such a rule for Microsoft Word here:

This rule will only run when Microsoft Word is active and there is a menu option for “Save” (which will be disabled if you don’t have any files open). If it does find the Save menu item, it will select it. (You could also tell it to press “? + S” but I prefer selecting menu items to keyboard shortcuts.)

With this rule you never have to worry about spending an hour on a Word document only to lose it all when the app crashed and you realized that you had forgotten to save it. If the file isn’t saved when the Keyboard Maestro macro runs, it will prompt you to name the file.

(There are other applications like Keyboard Maestro which support the same kind of features, but Keyboard Maestro is the one that I know and use. If you would recommend others, let us know in the comments.)

Versions is great, but there’s no need to wait for your app to support it

Versions is a great addition to OS X, and I love not having to remember to save, but only a handful of applications support it at the present time. If you want to (or are required to) use another application, take a few minutes to check out your auto-save options. There are few things more frustrating than losing unsaved work, but the good news is that there are fewer and fewer reasons for that to ever happen.

Emulate Lion’s Versions in Microsoft Word originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s a lot to love about the iPad 2′s Smart Cover, from the fashionable colors to the multifunctional design to its magnetic personality. Unfortunately, the flappy front piece leaves your iPad’s backside unprotected. For those of us who tend to drop our magical and revolutionary (yet not anti-gravity) devices, that’s code for trouble.

We last rounded up the Smart Cover-compatible case range in June, and not long after that post appeared the fine folks at iFrogz sent over the BackBone rear cover accessory. I’ve been using the cover for several weeks, and it does the job of protecting the iPad while remaining mostly unobtrusive and light.

Like most of the products in this category, the BackBone’s form closely tracks its function. It consists of a polycarbonate shell that snaps easily yet firmly onto the iPad’s back, covering the corners completely along with the right/bottom edge (in portrait or landscape ‘natural’ orientation) while leaving the left/top edge clear for the Smart Cover’s magnetic latch.

There are cutouts for the microphone, headphone port, sleep switch and dock port, along with a gridded section for the speaker. The cover is only a few mils thick (in matching colors to Apple’s cover), yet it’s tough — I accidentally dropped my iPad about a foot onto a stone floor, corner first, and not a mark on it. The cover has a pleasant, smooth feel that’s still got some grip to it.

You can get the cover direct from iFrogz for US$34.99, and possibly cheaper at retail. If you’re looking for a simple layer of protection, it’s a good option.

TUAW’s policy is to return or donate all hardware provided for review. For more details, see our policy page.

iFrogz BackBone pairs well with iPad 2 cover originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s only fair and right that one of the world’s most popular content management/blogging platforms should have a snazzy and capable iPhone app to go with it. The WordPress app has been updated to version 2.9, adding three new features for mobile users.

The new version adds handy styling buttons right above the keyboard, so you no longer have to put in your markup manually for bold or italic text, links or lists. Full-screen editing gives you more real estate to view what you’re working on, especially handy on the iPhone’s screen. You can also now follow other subscribed WordPress.com blogs directly in the app.

WordPress for iOS is free on the App Store.

WordPress iOS editing app gets styling buttons, full-screen mode originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 25 Sep 2011 00:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I have a pile of small USB-powered hard drives that I use to back up various devices. All of them are inexpensive, have somewhat limited storage, and are encased in plastic. The latter feature always makes me apprehensive about traveling with the drives, as they just don’t seem to be sturdy enough for a lot of handling. The Iomega eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive ($149.99 for 1 TB, $99.99 for 500 GB) is built to take on a lot of abuse and look good in the process.

Design

The first thing that hit me when I pulled the eGo Helium out of the box was that it looked and felt like it had been crafted from a solid block of aluminum. Of course it isn’t, but it does have a very solid aluminum case that is almost a precise match for the material used on the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Even with all of that aluminum, the drive still weighs only 8.2 ounces.

Design-wise, the case is quite stark — simply a slab of aluminum with the Iomega logo stamped on the side. On the back is a mini-USB port and a single white LED to let you know that the drive is plugged in. Trust me, you’ll need that light to know that the drive is in operation, since the eGo Helium is very quiet.

Since the eGo Helium is designed especially for Mac laptops, it comes pre-formatted as Journaled HFS+. The actual mechanism runs at 5400 RPM and is designed to withstand a 36″ drop. The really impressive feature of this drive is built-in AES 256-bit encryption in hardware. To enable or disable this feature, Iomega has a free utility available.

The utility, which works with Mac OS X 10.5 – 10.7, requires a reboot after installation. Once you’ve installed the software, enabling encryption re-formats the drive. A Drive Protection Dashboard is used to eject your drive for disconnection.

What’s great about using hardware encryption and a utility like this is that the data on the drive can be encrypted, but used on any Mac that is running the utility (as long as you know the password).

Unlike other manufacturers who tend to throw a pile of (in my opinion) relatively worthless software on each drive that goes out the door, I like that Iomega makes a companion software suite available as an optional free download. That software suite includes such items as a 12 month subscription to Trend SmartSurfing and a 2 GB free account for Mozy Home.

Benchmark

TUAW is uses a standard industry benchmark to compare the I/O capabilities of disks and arrays. The benchmark uses the AJA System Test, which simulates reading and writing video. The specific test I used was the Disk Read/Write test, also known as the DiskWhackTest, set at a video frame size of 720 x 486 8-bit and a file size of 128 MB.

The test results are compared to the internal SATA drive of the test iMac. I’ve also included the results for another USB 2.0 drive (Western Digital 3 TB MyBook Studio) for a more direct comparison.

I was wondering if enabling encryption on the Helium would slow down the read/write figures, so I ran a second set of tests with encryption turned on. The results were very close (average write speed was 30.5 MB/s, average read 33.5 MB/s), and most likely are within the margin of error considering the small sample size I used for the tests.

Conclusion

As a portable drive made to work with the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, the Iomega eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive is built like a tank. The hardware encryption feature and solid construction should be useful to anyone who needs to protect critical data while on the road, and the speed of the drive is very close to desktop USB 2.0 drives we’ve tested.

I like that Iomega is building drives specifically for the Mac market that match the Apple products they’re made to work with. I’ll also be reviewing the Mac Companion, a drive that’s designed to complement the iMac. The eGo Helium is definitely worth your consideration if you need a portable bus-powered drive for your Mac laptop.

Iomega eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive: Small, solid and secure originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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