Tagged : Apple

in Tech

Macbook Air Thunderbolt

Update: July 20, 2011

So the new MacBook Air has been released featuring a new i5 Intel processor and the high bandwidth Thunderbolt port. While I can’t find any official mention of it anywhere, it would appear that this machine is capable of running Final Cut X. The obvious drawback would be the integrated Intel video card and lack of a separate, full featured, non-ram sharing video card. I’m not sure how this impacts performance, but would love to try it out. Also the maximum 1.8 GHZ processor, even with multi-core processing and multitasking ability, is underpowered compared to a MacBook Pro.

While the MacBook Air was never meant as a super power machine, I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be powerful enough to perform basic video editing tasks while on the road? My logic is that you could purchase a decent and far more powerful iMac and an Air for the price of one MacBook Pro.

New MacBook Air June 2011?

After considering all of my options I have narrowed down my computer of choice to the MacBook Air, however, there are two major problems that I’m hoping will be solved with the next update, which should see the MacBook Air carry a Thunderbolt Port and is rumoured to be happening in June 2011.

Current Problem Number 1: Lack of External Expansion Ability

I work with video all the time. This requires huge amounts of hard drive space, which no laptop will ever have enough of internally, so an external drive is mandatory. While the existing 2010 MacBook Air has a USB 2.0 port it is just way too slow for even basic DV NTSC video editing. Add even compressed HD into the mix and you’re screwed. The MacBook Air as it sits now is not really meant for running intensive software like Final Cut Pro, so that rules out actual editing work, but half the battle is file management and storage, which means transferring large files to and from Flash memory and hard disks. Even this is too slow for video field work on a MacBook Air. Thunderbolt, with it’s ultra fast bandwidth pipeline, will solve this problem and make a lean, mean, file transferring machine out of the MBA.

Current Problem 2: Wimpy Processor

While the size of the MacBook Air makes it ideal for travel, the price you pay is in the form of it’s wimpy sub 2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor. This is a processor slower than my nearly 5 year old MacBook Pro and just doesn’t cut the mustard for multi-tasking or working in processor intensive software like Final Cut Studio or Adobe Photoshop. The new Thunderbolt toting MBA is rumoured to have an Intel Sandy Bridge processor which is the next generation of the i series multi-core processors in the current line of MacBook Pros and iMacs. This should alleviate some of the issues in processing power and turn the MacBook Air into a viable computer for basic HD video editing and other processor intensive tasks. It won’t be a super machine, but it may be able to get you buy for basic, non-effects intensive, video work. My only concern is the integrated Intel video processor, which may or may not allow for my dream of HD video editing on a MacBook Air.

So when will the new MacBook Air with Thunderbolt be available? Well, it seems through the usually accurate rumour mill that they will be announced sometime in June 2011. I have high expectations for this one.

in Tech

iPhone 4 vs 3GS Camera Comparison

The major feature on the iPhone 4 that made the upgrade worthwhile for me is the camera. Mobility is a key feature and I am trying to simplify the number of things that I need to carry around with me from day-to-day. If my camera, phone, and wallet can be one in the same than I’m a happy traveller.

Gone are the days of lugging around mountains of junk in my pocket. One device will do thank you.

The iPhone 3GS camera was more than adequate, but it had become slow and sluggish with more recent OS updates. Notably Apple iPhone OS 4.0 and up seemed to bring the app speed on the iPhone to a crawl, and really affected the performance of the camera.

The new camera on the iPhone 4 kicks that of the 3GS in the shins quite easily. Not only is the start up time quicker, but the image quality itself is also in a different league. To illustrate my point here are some images that show the difference in picture quality between the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4.

iPhone 3GS

iPhone 4

The image set above was taken in less than ideal conditions to show the shooting power of the new camera. Both images were scaled down in-camera during the upload process to this blog to 640 x 480px. For both images I set the focal point as the edge of the wine glass in the photo. As you can see the iPhone 4 deals with this tricky lighting situation much better than its predecessor.

in Media Culture

HTC Evo vs. iPhone 4

I love these videos from Xtra Normal. Something about the robotic computer voice reminiscent of Sound Blaster’s Dr. Sbaitso is just F—ing hilarious! Particularly when the robot voice says swear words. Sorry, I know it’s a little juvenile, but this video is a great cartoon satire about our infatuation with the Apple iPhone. Basically, the HTC Evo should kick the crap out of the iPhone any day, but we’re all unnaturally obsessed with the iPhone to the point of iPhone blindness.

The video is slightly not safe for work (there are a few cuss words).

in Media Culture

Steve Jobs Talks iAds and the Nissan Leaf Electric Car

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Nissan is set to release the latest in their fleet — a 100% electric vehicle called the Leaf.

At the recent Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference Steve Jobs unveiled the new iAd for the Nissan Leaf and goes through the motions to the point where he apparently orders one for himself.

What’s cool about how they are advertising the Leaf is that this will be one of the first vehicles promoted using the iAds platform on the iPhone. The HTML5 compatible video and interface seem as cool as Flash, but is obviously more browser compliant and will play on mobile devices.

The ad is triggered and displayed in the iPhone app, so there is no longer the cumbersome application switching and re-switching that previously occurred with the iPhone app advertising provided by the now Google owned AdMob.

What I like about these ads are their interactivity. Jobs illustrates this using a graph that shows how far the Leaf will travel on $1 worth of electricity versus other popular cars on 1$ of gas. The result is comical particularly when comparing a Nissan Leaf to a Hummer.

The landscape of advertising is changing and the ability to provide a high level of engagement and interactivity in ads is going to be crux to the future of advertising. No longer will it be enough just to put an advertisement in a consumer’s face, rather, it will be necessary to involve them in the process and make them a part of the product. As always these days engagement is key.

The world is a changin’.

in Media Culture

Is it Worth Upgrading to the New Apple iPhone 4?

Photos via: GDGT Information via: Gizmodo Live

Is it worth upgrading to the new iPhone 4?

Well, obviously that is a bit subjective, but some of the new features in Apple’s new iPhone 4 are definite game-changers in the world of mobile technology.

Today at the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., unveiled the features of the new device. I say device, because this is hardly a telephone anymore.

Here is a brief breakdown of some of the features on the new iPhone 4:

  • Front and rear facing camera which doubles as a 5 megapixel camera, HD video recorder, and webcam for video chat. The video recorder is capable of recording full HD video at 720p/30fps which effectively kills the need for Canon’s latest SX210 which touts HD video recording. Also, the front facing camera has an LED flash and will also kill off the Samsung PL150 compact still camera with the additional “selfy” front facing shooting screen. Basically Apple addresses all of the current issues with the iPhone camera.
  • 40% longer top time. This is a nice bonus over the iPhone 3GS with it’s fairly pathetic battery
  • FaceTime video chat which allows for Skype-like video chat between iPhone users. I wonder if this will be compatible with iChat users on laptops also? I also will assume that a Skype for iPhone 4 App will be released in the very near future. Unfortunately FaceTime only works over WiFi, but I think that is a minor issue at this point.
  • Higher resolution screen (named Retina display) which displays at 960 × 640 pixels which translates to sharper text, more of each website on screen, nicer photo viewing
  • LED camera flash + higher ISO/light sensitivity which means better all around low-light performance for photo and video
  • Gyroscope – this camera has a built in high-performance gyroscope which will detect motion in every possible direction and rotation opening up a wide range of new possibilities for apps and games.
  • iMovie for iPhone – this is super cool. The $5 app will allow you to edit HD video home movies, add effects, add soundtrack, and upload to popular sites like YouTube all from your iPhone 4.
  • iBooks for iPhone – a new way of organizing your iBooks and PDF documents on the iPhone

So is it worth the extra money to upgrade to the new iPhone 4? For me personally I’m going to say yes. The new features in the camera alone basically eliminate the need to carry another camera. At 5 megapixels with HD 720p video this device will take pictures and videos that far exceed anything ever done on a phone.

This is a true convergence device and once again a game-changing product release from Apple. I can’t wait to get my hands on one.

Read more at the Definitive Guide to iPhone 4

in Media Culture

Farmville for iPhone

Steve Jobs just announced Farmville for iPhone at the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference. Apparently we will be able to play Farmville on the iPhone just as we do on Facebook and there will even be push notifications for withering crops and such. I have never played Farmville, but does this mean I should start? Is this the next Angry Birds? I can’t keep up with this stuff, but I think the one thing that this does assure is that I will be seeing more notifications about my friends’ farms on Facebook.

“More people play Zynga games than watch the season finales of Lost and 24,” says the Zynga CEO. Apparently now there are something like 70 million active users for Zynga games now. That is substantial.