Monthly Archive for October, 2006

MacExpo: GreenMyApple

Published on Friday, October 27, 2006 in Apple, Noteworthy and Technology. 4 Comments

The presence of GreenMyApple was quite mysterious, that is because they weren’t there. Outside the Olympia Hall where the expo was taking place, there was a Greenpeace rep, handing out GreenMyApple leaflets, with a huge banner and even a flag. The leaflet can be seen above, it isn’t the best quality as I scanned it in after it had been crumpled up a bit in my bag! A pdf version is available here, which I created. This uses the same scanned images, but is at a higher resolution.

I was actually keen to go to their stand, as I wanted to talk to one of their reps and collect some information. I honestly had no idea how ‘bad’ Mac’s are in respect of the materials they are made from. I am all for saving the environment, as long as there is truth behind what Greenpeace say. They were nowhere to be found, so when I came home I did some digging around on the internet and found that their stall was taken down by MacExpo organisers who “claimed they received complaints from unnamed sources“. Speculation has it, that it may have been Stevie, who didn’t like the reporting that Greenpeace did a while back. They gave Apple a ranking of 2.7/10 for the enviromentally friendliness of Apple’s hardware. A detailed overview can be found here (PDF). Though this is purely rumour, I can’t see anyone else who would actually protest against such a thing, especially as it is for the environment.

The volunteers for Greenpeace have said that they will go back tomorrow (ie, today) to MacExpo to continue their campaign. Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International campaigner at the expo said, “This reaction is totally over-the-top. Apple refuses to address our criticisms on their products, both for the recycling and for the use of harmful chemicals.” He added, “Instead of hiding their head in the sand, Apple should be a world leader in the greening of the electronics industry, not lagging behind.” He finished by saying that Apple should use cleaner components when making their product, to provide a free take-back program for recycling old Macs; and they challenge “the world leader in design to also be a world leader in environmental innovation” for Apple to have a “product range on the market by 2007 which is free of the worst toxic chemicals”

[via MacNN]

UPDATE: The real reason that GreenMyApple were thrown out of MacExpo, is because they were using ‘viral tactics’ to spread Apples, literally. Many companies were annoyed, that there marketing things were being replaced by green apples, and were randomly placing them in their booths. “The problem came to a head when one woman complained that they had placed an apple in her child’s pram and were taking photographs of him without her permission.” [link]

MacExpo: Parallels

Published on Friday, October 27, 2006 in Apple, Noteworthy, Software and Technology. 2 Comments

Parallels had quite a small stand, with only one rep, but they certainly impressed me. I’ve never actually had a chance to see parallels in the flesh, and I’ve only heard about it on the Interweb. Apple don’t install it on their Macs in the Apple store so this was new for me. A few people were around the rep who was explaining Parallel, what it does and how it works. When he started up Windows XP on his MacBook Pro, the speed just blew me away. Maybe it was just a fresh install and nothing else was running in the background, but it booted Windows from the BIOS screen in around 30 seconds. Wow! As it was a small booth (around 5 foot by 6 foot) there was only one Mac, which we were unable to try out. However it still had a huge impression on me, and would consider buying it, in the case that I got a Intel Mac. It is a lot easier and faster than booting up Windows in BootCamp, although not everything may work perfectly. There are bugs and flaws, which will get ironed out in future releases.
They had a special offer for those at MacExpo, where you could get Parallels for £39.99 instead of the RRP of £49.99. If I had a Intel Mac, I would have most certainly taken up that offer.

Parallels

MacExpo: Google

Published on Friday, October 27, 2006 in Internet, Software, Technology and Web 2.0. 2 Comments

Google had a booth at MacExpo, not really announcing anything new, just showcasing their software for the Mac. Google’s booth was very well designed, not the best though (I would have to say Quark’s was the best), and around he front there were 6 Intel iMac’s which you could use to try out Google Maps, Google Sketchup, Google Earth and Google Video. Around the reverse of the booth there was a presentation area where Google reps were delivering various seminars on Google software and how to get the most use from it. Google’s stand was packed most of the time, so I only had a few minutes to have a look around, but it really is nothing new. They were also giving out a portfolio PR pack containing sheets about their software and a CD with the Google software on it.
A lot of companies were giving away marketing, and Google was not an exception. They had transparent packs of Google branded gummy bear and sour sweets, which were probably nothing more than Haribo with Google’s sticker slapped on them.

Live from MacExpo

Published on Thursday, October 26, 2006 in Apple and Technology. Closed

If there are no pictures showing up above, then please be patient as it might take flickr a while to set up the photos, or I have not uplodaded any photos yet. Click on the images to be taken to the relative flickr page. Click here to see all the photos I have taken so far. I will be adding more and more photos throughout the day so check back often.

UPDATE: I’ve just found out that apparently the flickr badge that was supposed to show up above, wasn’t being displayed correctly in most browsers. Sometimes Safari/Firefox would display it, other times not. Sorry for that, and I probably should have spent more time organising it and getting it all ready! It’s kind of late here, so I’ll post the full details, along with all the free stuff that I got at the Expo (don’t get yourselves worked up, it’s only PR stuff).

Firefox 2.0 is Out!

Published on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 in Internet, Noteworthy, Software and Technology. Closed

firefox logo

The much awaited revision of Firefox, 2.0, has officially been released. After a number of blunders yesterday it has finally been pushed out the door. A lot has been added to Firefox, in the background as visually. The UI has been improved and re-done, and gives it a much more elegant feeling. Firefox 2 now has built-in phishing protection for sites that pose themselves as paypal and sites alike. This is another step making Firefox a very secure browser. There is also a built-in session saver, so you don’t need to hunt for pesky extensions. The session saver will automatically restore the windows and tabs that you closed down last when exiting Firefox. This can also be done if Firefox crashes. Many more features such as inline spell checking, enhanced searching, advanced handling of RSS feeds and live titles. For a full list click here, or you can use the link below to be taken to the firefox download page.

Apple updates MacBook Pros

Published on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 in Apple, Noteworthy and Technology. Closed

Apple has updated the MacBook Pros, for the first time since its launch in January of this year. So what do the updates feature? Well the Firewire 800 port is now also built-in into the 15″ model, whereas before it was only in the 17″. The other main update, was that they finally receieved a processor bump, upto the new Core 2 Duos, which had been in speculation before. According to Apple, the Core 2 Duo makes the MB Pro upto 39% faster than its Core Duo counterpart. The 2.16Ghz model ship with a standard RAM of 1GB, while the 2.33GHz models ship with 2GB. This is much appreciated to those who felt that the previous RAM allocations were not enough, and no-one wants to buy RAM from Apple as it’s way too expensive. RAM is expandable upto 3GB now.
The Superdrives are now 6x dual-layer, while the 17″ MB Pro has a Superdrive of 8x Dual-layer. A lot of people commented on how Apple had only included a single-layered burner in the original MacBook Pro, most thought that it was because it was so thin. I guess the manufacturers have caught up. There is also a build-to-order option of a 200GB hard drive for those who need large drive space on the move. Apple also released a MagSafe Airline power adapter so that you can charge while on a flight that has a EmPower socket or a 20mm power socket. Apple notes: “The MagSafe Airline Power Adapter is not compatible with automobile power ports.” This is most likely because the cars don’t provide enough juice (ie current, ampage) to power the MB.

Gaming News in Review

Published on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 in Gaming, Internet, Microsoft, Noteworthy, Software, Technology and TV's. 1 Comment

lik-sang logo

A lot of gaming news has happened while I was away, so I thought I’d summerise it all.

Sony sues games importer Lik-Sang out of existence. Sony originally filed a motion against Lik-Sang in August of 2005 for exporting PSP’s to the UK before the release of the console there. Just last week a high court judge in London ruled that the sales were illegal in Europe and blocked them, even though Lik-Sang argued they broke no Hong Kong laws.
Last week, Pascal Clarysse, Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com argued; “Fighting multiple lawsuits in different countries at the same time and paying high premiums to expensive lawyers is an overwhelming situation for a small company like Lik Sang. Launching separate court actions with separate claims and different judges is completely unnecessary, except for the fact that it helps reaching one single target: outspend Lik-Sang to death. Pay beyond.” [link]
Could there be a Xbox 360 Dashboard update waiting for us in a weeks time. Xbox Live’s Major Nelson mentioned on his podcast that he has been testing out the Xbox 360 Wireless Communicator on his development kit, which has “excellent” sound quality. Major Nelson goes on to say that “even if you went to the store today and bought it, you couldn’t use it until you have the fall upgrade to the dashboard.” With the Wireless communicator being released on 31st October, it makes us wonder whether the dashboard update would be released on or before the 31st; and that day is just looming. [link] Major Nelson’s Podcast, mentioned at around 1:16:30.
Sony has cleared up good and bad things about the PS3. Some of the postive notes are: HD Movies can be stored on and played directly from the hard drive, although codec support is yet unknown; Reports are that within 10 seconds of selecting the movie from the menu, its playing. The bad sides include: no HD cables in the box for definite; PS3 does not upconvert DVD’s, and will not enhance PS1/PS2 game’s graphics; no included remote, one can be bought separately for $24.99, and uses bluetooth not IR, so say goodbye to your universal remote. [link]

I’m going to MacExpo!

Published on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 in Apple, Gaming, General and Technology. Closed

I got back from Hungary at around midnight of Sunday. I would have posted news on Monday and yesterday, as it was awfully busy in the tech world, but my copy of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter arrived in the posted. So I ended playing it pretty much all day. It is a fantastic game, but more on that in a separate post.
So while I was looking through my emails, I remembered that I had been given a free ticket to MacExpo which starts tomorrow. As it so happens, the rest of the family are going to London for shopping, so I’m going as well, but to MacExpo. I will be taking lots and lots of photos, and I will try to blog about most of them. This week will be really bust for me! My camera isn’t back from repair yet, so I’ll be taking pictures with my K800i phone. It has a superb camera, though it often shows up quite a lot of noise. I’m going to try to set up my Flickr account so that I can send photos from my phone to it, which it then should post onto my blog. Hopefully it all goes well.
Other than that I have not much else to say, I have got a lot of news lined up, which I will try to all post today.

Europe to get another PS3 delay? (false)

Published on Friday, October 13, 2006 in Gaming, Noteworthy and Technology. Closed

After all the problems that Sony has stuffed us with, you’d think they’d have learnt by now to get things sorted out in time for the launch. But apparently it seems they haven’t learned a thing. Not only is the PS3 already been delayed for us in Europe, but we are supposed to suffer another delay?
According to the Spanish gaming site MeriStation Ken Kutaragi recently admitted that supply problems for Japan and North America could force the European PS3 launch to be delayed until May. This would mean that the Japanese and Americans might have their PS3′s nearly six months before the rest of the world. This has not been verified yet, so take it with a grain of salt. It is also worthwhile to note that Kutaragi also supposedly said that Sony has not modified its European launch plans at this time.

UPDATE: Sony has come out and denied this story. A Sony spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz: “Any reports of a further delay to the launch of the PS3 in Europe are categorically not true. We are still fully committed to a March 2007 launch date. Ken Kutaragi has not done any media briefings since the Tokyo Game Show, and the story is not true.” [link]

So the (RED) iPod nano really is here…

Published on Friday, October 13, 2006 in Apple, Noteworthy and Technology. Closed

apple red ipod

The Chicago Tribune has posted a photo of Oprah and Bono checking out the new (RED) iPod nano’s at the Michigan Avenue Apple Store in Chicago. Not only that, but someone spotted the Apple Cube Store in NYC changing their Apple logo to a red one (photo here).
Also, on Apple’s website, they are now advertising the (RED) iPod, and have a link to the online Apple store to buy it. However, there is no mention of it on the online Apple store. Maybe they are just waiting until Bono and Oprah officially reveal it on TV. As you can see from Apple’s PR shot to the right, the nano is a more vivid red than the artists rendition. I think it looks really cool, and wouldn’t mind buying one (If I needed one), and it’s for a good cause.