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Google Earth - Exploring the Sky

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 | Free Stuff, Software, Tech News | No Comments

Google has released a new version of Google Earth. With version 4.2 you can now not only explore the earth, but you can lift up your sights and explore the sky. What’s different this time is that this version is available simultaneously for Mac and Windows. With the original version of Google Earth, Mac users had to wait for Google to release a Mac OS X version. This is another indication that Google is trying to be more Mac friendly. After all, Google’s CFO sits on Apple’s board. I’m sure Steve Jobs is making sure that the biggest search engine and free software developer plays nice with Mac.

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The New iMac

Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 | Apple News, Mac Resources, Tech News | No Comments

Now that the new iMac has been on the market for about 2 days, lets answer the question, “What’s new about it?” Some of you may have seen it already. You are blessed. For the rest of us, here are some major changes.

One of the biggest changes and most apparent to the eye is the material of the encasing. Apple has chosen to use aluminum and glass to construct the casing for the new iMac. This brings the iMac inline with the rest of the Pro line of computers. The MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are made of aluminum. In addition, the new iMac is thinner and comes with a new redesigned keyboard. The keyboard is also thinner and looks similar to the one on MacBooks. And all iMac now come with a glossy screen.

Beside the changes on the exterior there are some changes under the hood. The new iMac is faster, with processor speeds up to 2.8 GHz. And it accommodates more memory - up to 4 GB. Furthermore, the new iMac comes with a larger hard drive, up to 1 TB of storage. To enhance the video speed, Apple upgraded the video card to the new ATI Radeon HD. Now all of the iMac models include a FireWire 800 port.

With this upgrade, Apple has discontinued the 17″ iMac. It is replaced with a 20″ model, but offered at the same price as the outgoing 17-incher. If you haven’t seen the new iMacs, head over to the nearest Apple Store and check them out. I’ll be doing that in the next day or so.

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SuperDrive firmware update

Thursday, June 28th, 2007 | Apple News, Mac OS X, Tech News, Tips | No Comments

My new MacBook Pro has been having issues with the SuperDrive.  It refused to play certain media and didn’t always burn discs on the first try.  Today my software update prompted me for a new update.  It happened to be the SuperDrive Update 2.1.  I haven’t been able to test my optical drive extensively after loading the update, but have see some improvement.  I have a disc with me that didn’t play prior to the update but plays after the update.  That sounds like good news to me.  I suppose that these firmware updates to make a difference.  I’ll do some further testing at a later time when I have access to more variety of media.

If you’ve been having issues with your optical drive on a MacBook Pro, fire up the Software Update on your machine and load the SuperDrive Update 2.1.  It should improve your drive’s performance.

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