shuffle February 2007 content

[Magnus]

Macworld Expo 2007
by Magnus

It's over for this year and as usual Macworld Expo leaves us with a line of product announcements and other news that it takes some time to take in and digest. in this article I will try to bring you a summary of the main news from Steve Jobs' keynote address.

New name
Possibly more important than any of the other announcements is the change of name for Apple as a company. They've been known for 30 years as Apple Computer Inc. but they dropped the computer part and from now on they're just known as Apple Inc. This probably means it's even easier for people to mistake it for a fruit company but it also means a broader change of directions, I think. Apple announced on their web site some time before the keynote that the first 30 years of the company's history was only the beginning. We understand now that what they referred to was this change in direction. The company that has had the Mac line of computers as its core for 30 years is ever expanding into other consumer electronic devices, most recently with the iPhone. I don't think the Mac will disappear anytime soon, but we will probably see more emphasis from Apple on other product lines. And it probably makes sense in a broader context. I believe personal computers as we've known them so far are gradually morphing into other devices, more integrated with other things, making them a more natural part of our lives.

Apple TV
We found out that what was previously known as the iTV is now going to be called the Apple TV. As you probably know by now the Apple TV is a small device that hooks up to your TV and lets you send video from iTunes on a Mac to your TV set. To use the Apple TV you a "widescreen TV" and that it works with "widescreen, enhanced-definition or high-definition TVs capable of 1080i, 720p, 576p, or 480p resolutions". So if you have not invested in an HD-capable TV set yet, once the Apple TV is out, it may be a good time to do so. All this glorious HD-content can be sent to the Apple TV using 802.11n wifi networking, supported by the new Airport Extreme Base Station and most recent Macs. The Apple TV has a 40 Gb hard drive but you cannot store things to it like on a Mac. That space is only used to temporarily stored media that is streamed to it. It can temporarily store media that is synchronized from a Mac. That way your Apple TV can always be up to date with the movies, TV shows and more that you purchase and download with a Mac. You can also stream content from up to five Macs. On the Apple TV's hard drive you can store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each. The interface of Apple TV is basically FrontRow and you control it with the same Apple Remote you use for Macs and other things. It comes standard with most any connection you would want, including HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Steve Jobs said about the Apple TV that it is “like a DVD player for the 21st century—you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store.” The Apple TV will be shipping in February in the US for just $299. When it will be available in the Middle East and what the expected price, we don't know at this point.

iPhone
Without doubt the big news at Macworld was the announcement of the iPhone. When Steve Jobs started talking about three devices, a mobile phone, an iPod, and an internet communication device, but in one physical device, the audience in the Moscone Center seemed to go wild. And certainly those of us that followed it live via IRC and other means also were very excited. At the heart of what is so special about the iPhone is the software and the interface. Everything is controlled by a touch screen that covers almost one entire side of the device. There are no physical keys or stylus, like in most other devices, which makes the iPhone something very new and exciting. It means a more natural interface, and an interface that can be software upgradeable in the future. And the interface is multi-touch meaning you can use more than one finger to control it. For example by moving two fingers closer together or further apart, you zoom in or zoom out. The iPhone will sync with a Mac with iTunes, and other desktop applications such as iCal and Addressbook. It also comes with a full version of Safari which is a first for such a small handheld device. Since the iPhone apparently runs a scaled-down version of OS X, it should be fairly easy for Apple to port applications to it and make them talk to their Mac OS X counterparts. Whether users will be able to install their own software on the iPhone or if it's restricted is something we don't know yet. Personally I hope Apple will open it up to third-party developers. For communications the iPhone should have most everything you would want, including GSM, Bluetooth, wifi, and EDGE. EDGE is for data communication over a mobile phone connection and speeds seem to run around 100-150kbps. It's far from as fast as what's referred to as 3G mobile phone networks, but there are already speculations that 3G is on its way to iPhone. With all this communication wouldn't it be cool to be able to purchase stuff from iTunes Store straight from the iPhone? Many questions remain and since Apple still has six months to develop the iPhone before first sales, I'm sure there will be many more announcements before then. Some concerns I have are will the storage be enough since there is no way to expand it via more memory cards or anything, will the screen hold up to constant touching, and what will the battery life be like in everyday use? We'll see when it makes it to the Middle East, since it will be available in the US in June 2007, in Europe toward the end of 2007 and in Asia in 2008. In Apple's worldwide organization Apple IMC ME is a part of Apple Europe which then should mean we'd get the iPhone here later this year. But this is of course not at all for sure and at this point I don't think anyone knows when the iPhone will be available here. No doubt we'll start to see iPhones here as soon they are out in the US though, so hopefully we can get our hands on one to review it.

Airport Extreme
Last, but by no means least, is the new Airport Extreme Base Station. The big news is that it now supports 802.11n which most recent Macs also do. The new Airport Extreme is up to five times faster than the previous model and it can achieve up to twice the range. Both are important factors for any wireless network users. But when we talk about speed, remember that you will still be restricted by your internet connection's speed when accessing anything outside your network. Not wanting to settle with 802.11b and g, Apple also throws in 802.11a into the mix, a standard not very widely used but that has definite benefits that will appeal to some users. A really cool new feature is that you can plug in any external USB hard drive to the Airport Extreme and it becomes available to all users on the network. Apple includes the Airport Disk Utility with which you can control what will be shared and who has access to what. This instantly turns almost any hard drive into a NAS (Network Attached Storage) something that you previously had to pay quite a bit extra for when buying a hard drive. It's easy to imagine that the new Airport Extreme base station is much more important to Apple's future strategy than we think right now. It's much faster than the previous Airport Extreme and you can connect a hard drive to it. With those features it's possible to integrate various devices more closely in our homes, like the Mac, the Apple TV, and indeed the iPhone since it does wifi. My guess we've only seen the beginning of what Apple is going to do with the new Airport Extreme.

The final word
Macworld Expo was a bit of an anticlimax in a way for me. I had certainly expected some Mac news, at least iLife 07, an updated Mac mini, and perhaps iWork 07 too, but that was not to be I guess. Looking back that was of course because the news about the iPhone was much bigger than anyone had anticipated and Apple didn't want to steal thunder from it. But it is after all "Macworld", not "iPhoneworld". I think we all forgive Apple for this though and we look forward to some exciting Mac news in the near future.

SIDEBAR
The next Macworld Expo is January 14-18 2008 in San Francisco. EmiratesMac will try to arrange a group-trip to the event. If you are interested send an email to emiratesmac@mac.com.

SIDEBAR
Towards the end of the keynote, Steve Jobs borrowed a quote from ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, who said “I skate to where the puck will be, not where it is”.

SIDEBAR
EmiratesMac User Group arranged a special event of our own. Some of the members gathered at a hotel in Dubai to follow the keynote live and we had a lot of fun. This is something we will do again in the future and we hope that as many of you as possible are willing to join in.

[Magnus]

MJ visits the Mother Ship
Part 2
by Mohammed

During a recent visit to California I had the great pleasure of spending some time at Apple's headquarters and some other tech companies in Silicon Valley. I wrote about my experience and here is the second part. In part one I introduced you to the Mother Ship and told you some about what my initial experience was when I went to Apple in California. The second part will continue our journey at Apple and reveal more details.

This amazing tour that I had all day, was given to me by one of the iMen working there, a friend I am in debt to for the rest of my life, and don't know how to repay him back for what he has done. Misho is his nickname and Apple is his game. This iMan, like no other, has given me a bite out of Apple, and made all my dreams come true. I thank you Misho, and appreciate the effort and time you have given me to see this wonderful place. I felt like a little kid, seeing Disneyland for the very first time in my life, and playing in rides like no other. After riding in a train for an hour from San Francisco to Cupertino, Mountain View area, Misho was their waiting for me in the Applemobile. Yes, his car did have an Apple sticker, if you were wondering. We had never seen each other before, just spoke on the phone, but he knew me immediately when he saw me. Obviously I was wearing Apple gear on me, that's pretty much how he knew it was me. Then he went along with his mission of abducting me. We drove to The Mother Ship, and talked the whole way about my trip and Apple.

When we reached the Mother Ship, we drove around the surrounding buildings. He showed which is which, but we only got to go into the iGym. Their gym was nice and simple, all the equipments you need to get in shape was available. Plus they had a lot of iMacs on the sides for you to log on and check mail, or browse the net. They also had a slide show on their iMacs that showed pictures of sporting events they had held in the past.

When we were done with that we headed off to the Mother Ship. Misho parked in the underground parking that was designed for the employees. Building five was where we started our journey inside the Mother Ship. I logged in to one of the iMacs in the front desk lobby of the building. I have put my name, company and person I am here to visit. A printed ID was instantly made with an ID number; I took it and walked in. I still have that ID and stuck it on my 17" Powerbook G4. It was amazing, no one was at work for it was a holiday, but security was tight and around the clock. But was Appleholic scared? No way, I had my main man here, an iMan in the flesh. I felt like I could run around like a kid and do anything I want and he would protect me if I got in trouble, it felt so much fun.

We went upstairs and into his Office. We sat down and I started asking so many questions, I had so much to say, yet I was speechless cause I couldn't believe I was where I was. I still thought it was dream, and told Misho to pinch me. He told me about their work system, and his line of work at Apple, the things he do and how he does them. I told him it must be amazing to work for one of the most innovative companies in the world. But being an iMan for so long, doesn't seem like it means so much to them as much as it does for us mere mortals.

He told me, Appleholic, yes, Apple is amazing, and their gadgets are so cool and some products are way ahead of their time, and advanced. Being a simple user of Mac as myself, it does sound amazing to work for the most innovative company, but working for the company is whole different ball game. It's nice, but it's also tough and time consuming with loads of deadlines, where you really will have to learn and cope with how to work under pressure. Expect anything! The CEO Steve Jobs can walk in any time and say "I need something of this and that sort and with these capabilities on my desk in a short period of time". So the clock will be ticking and your deadline has to be met or else the consequences could be unpleasant.

He also told me about their work schedule. They start work at 8am, but then their working hours are so flexible as long as you can get your work done. So you can walk in and out pretty much as you please, and that explains how sometimes when Apple fans that tend to sneak around the Mother Ship would see lights on at 10pm, or 11pm or even 12 midnight. They have a 24-hour access to their offices and labs. They want the best results on their products so they have to offer the best facilities. They do pay for some of their food if your working over time at night, they got names of restaurants that would deliver to the building they are working in. They have a large cafeteria that makes almost everything, with slid down projector screens for the employees to watch special keynote presentations presented by Steve Jobs at the special events like Macworld and WWDC. Doesn't that sound neat? I wish I could attend one of these events in the near future.

They already had a huge Christmas tree in the lobby of building one with iMen being able to donate something by placing gifts under the tree. I have actually seen one of the big shots at Apple while I passed by the Christmas tree; he was chilling with a friend and talking to him. I couldn't help but stare at him like a weirdo. It was Bertrand one of the VPs if I am not mistaken. He was the iMan that got on stage on WWDC 2006 and showed how Microsoft's new yet unimpressive operating system Vista is a replica of Tiger. He was funny; he cracked me up that day. Anyways, as we walked all around, I even got the privilege to use the iToilet! How cool is that! Using the iToilet of Apple was a tight experience.

I also reminded Misho that I have an iMan friend that I knew from college. We both graduated together as Electrical Engineers, but he got the opportunity to work as an intern at Apple. When I mentioned his name, Misho knew him immediately and told me where he worked; which was one floor above him. He showed me his cubical and I wrote my college friend a note on a posted and stuck it on his Apple display for him to see when he gets to work on Monday. After spending most of the day at the Mother Ship we gave some time for the surrounding neighbor companies that co-existed with Apple. Silicon Valley was rich with most of the big innovative companies. We visited Intel, and checked out their museum. We visited NVidia and passed by Sony. I saw a lot of companies like Tivo and other big shot companies that have acres of land in that area. Misho then finally took me to huge electronics store in that area. It was like a huge supermarket made just for electronics. How cool is that? We browsed through it very quickly and left. He then dropped me off at the train station at night and said "Mission Accomplished".

In part three I will finish up my story about the stay in California, and tell you the final chapters of what I did at Apple.

[Magnus]

Review: 2nd generation iPod nano
by Magnus

In September 2006, Apple launched what they called the "completely remastered" iPod nano. The 2nd generation nano is almost a combination of the 1st generation nano and the old iPod mini. It has the form factor of the first nanos but the aluminum exterior of the mini. It also comes in a selection of color, like the mini, and you can now choose from five vibrant colors. The 2Gb model only comes in silver while the 4Gb nanos come in silver, pink, blue and green. The 8Gb model is available only in black. There is also a red 2nd generation nano. Unfortunately we've been told by Apple IMC ME that it will not be sold in the Middle East, which we think is really regrettable. A part of each red nano's price goes to charity, something that we think is as important here as it is in North America, but I guess Apple does not agree.

The mini is back
Besides different colors, perhaps the most obvious new feature of the new generation nanos is the body. Imagine taking an iPod mini and squeezing it a bit to make it smaller, and adding a color screen, and you have the new nano. The body is made out of aluminum and it does not attract dirt and scratches nearly as much as the first nanos did. Although I cannot confirm it I'd say that Apple has also made the screen more scratch-resistant, which is a good thing.

Nano size indeed
You will all agree, I'm sure, that the 1st generation nano was very small indeed. Apple managed somehow to make the 2nd generation even more nano-esque if you like. It now measures 90mm x 40mm x 6.5mm, and weighs in at 40g. That's really not much at all. And holding it side by side with a 1st generation nano it both looks and feels a lot smaller and lighter, probably more so than what the real numbers are.

Improved endurance and brightness
Apple says that the new nanos can play up to 24 hours of music on a single battery charge and that the display is 40 percent brighter than the old nano. We don't have the equipment to accurately test either claim but I'd say hey are both likely to be true. After using the nano for a couple of weeks I can certainly say battery life is impressive and you are not likely to be in a situation where you run out very often. The screen is much brighter than the previous generation if you compare two devices side by side. This makes the 2nd generation much more useful outdoors, which is where, let's be honest, many of us use them for recreation or exercise.

Software
In terms of software functions, arguably the nicest new addition is a search function. With the click-wheel you select Search after which you can select letters and numbers to search for. Select "beat" will find "The Beatles" as well as "The Beat Goes On". Although the search function is a welcome addition, I suspect that many regular iPod users will have their music libraries all set up and well organized already, minimizing the use of the search features. But it's nice that Apple added it and it will come in handy sooner or later.

New Headphones
Apple redesigned the white iPod earphones, and they do now feel better in my ears at least. I'm not sure this is really that important since those who use their iPod a lot are likely to buy other earphones anyway, but I guess it's good that Apple is improving on this aspect as well. The old ones always felt awkward in my ears, while the new ones fit much better. I'm sure it's different between individuals but the new earphones stay better in place for me than the old ones.

Conclusion
The 2nd generation nano reaffirms its position in the middle of the iPod range. Whether you should invest in a new nano if you already have a 1st generation one is doubtful. But if you're considering an iPod for the first time, and size and portability is an issue, and you need a screen, the nano is a safe bet. With different colors to choose from, better battery life, brighter screen, and improved software, the 2nd generation nano is a winner.

SIDEBAR
The 2nd Generation iPod nanos are sold in MacStore in Abu Dhabi and Dubai for 599Dhs (2Gb), 799Dhs (4Gb), and 990Dhs (8Gb). Apple IMC ME provided the nano for this review. Some accessories for the 1st generation nano are not going to fit the new nanos, so you may have to spend some extra money on that if you upgrade models. Apple offer a range of accessories including a dock, an armband, an AC-adaptor, and a lanyard.

[Magnus]

Review: OmniWeb
by Magnus

We've come to expect that web browsers are free, available to us at no cost. So why would a company continue to develop a browser and charge $14.95 for it? Let's take a look at the things that make OmniWeb special and see if it's something for you to check out.

Tabs and site preferences
The most obvious thing that appears different in OmniWeb is tab drawer. Instead of showing tabs at the top of the screen, like other browsers, OmniWeb shows a drawer with thumbnails of the different web pages. The thumbnails are live so you see changes as they happen. This is a really cool feature but for users with smaller screens it may take up too much valuable screen space. One of the more important features that set OmniWeb aside from the other browsers is that you can set preferences on a site by site basis. This means that for different sites you can have separate settings for stylesheets, fonts, ad blocking, Javascript, cookies, and more.

Feels slow
So what is not so good about OmniWeb? The main complaint I have is that it feels slow. Perhaps it's the thumbnails in the tab drawer or something else. But browsing with OmniWeb feels slower than both Firefox 2.0 and Safari on my Macbook. I see the spinning wheel in places where I don't in the other browsers, for example. Perhaps that's a setting I've made, I don't know.

Final word
Whether you should spend $15 on another browser is up to you. OmniWeb has some special features that may be very useful to some but that won't add much value for others. My suggestion is that you download the trial and check it out.

SIDEBAR
OmniWeb is available from http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omniweb. You can download and try it for 30 days. If you want to keep using it after the trial period the price is $14.95. OmniGroup can be found on the web at http://www.omnigroup.com. They make a number of very exciting applications and utilities for Mac OS X, including OmniGraffle, Omni Outliner, and OmniPlan. OmniGroup supplied a serial number for OmniWeb for this review. We will be back in future issues of shuffle with reviews of more OmniGroup software.

[Magnus]

Chicken and Apples in Honey Mustard Sauce Recipe
by Crystal

Ingredients
1/2 cup apple cider
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp seasoned dry breadcrumbs
4 4oz chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 small unpeeled apples, cored and cut into eigths
1/2 cup chicken broth
fresh parsley

1. Whisk cider, cornstarch, mustard, honey, salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Spread bread crumbs on a piece of wax paper, lightly coat chicken with crumbs.

3. In a large non-stick skillet, heat the oil and add the chicken breasts. Cook over medium heat until golden brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Turn chicken, add apples, and cook until browned on the other side.

4. Add chicken broth, cover and simmer until chicken is tender, about 15 minutes.

5. With slotted spoon, remove chicken and apples to serving plates. Whisk cider mixture again and add to skillet. Cook and stir over high heat until lightly thickened and bubbly, 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon over chicken and apples, sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with rice. Serves 4.

[Magnus]

Single user mode saves the Macbook
by Magnus

Not long ago I had problems with my Macbook that I eventually fixed by booting into Single User Mode (SUM). Basically booting into SUM means booting your Mac into the command line interface that lies at the heart of everything your Mac does, and not the nice looking Aqua graphical user interface (GUI). I know many of you are saying why would I want to know any command line typing stuff when I can just click with the mouse? The simple answer is that knowing how to do some things at the command line can help you do things that are not possible with the GUI.
What happened made me be thankful to Apple for putting in command line access in Mac OS X. I know some of you don't like command line stuff, but listen to this and you may change your mind. I was installing Bootcamp on my Core 2 Duo Macbook because I was giving a presentation at work about how you can run Windows on Mac. I already had Parallels working beautifully and I saw no reason to get Bootcamp as well but what the heck, I thought, I'd show them both options. I downloaded the Bootcamp installer, ran it, created the drivers disk, partitioned the Mac hard disk, and at the last screen when you should click for Bootcamp to restart the Mac, I clicked and I got the dreaded "You need to restart your computer" message, meaning something had gone terribly wrong. So I rebooted the Mac and held down the Option key to see if I could get into Windows to install it and selected the Windows XP installer CD. It booted, installed Windows without problems, installed Apple's drivers, and everything was dandy.
So when Windows XP was all set up I wanted to get back into Mac OS X (who wants to stay in Windows?) and I got that error again, same thing as before. I tried booting from the Mac OS X installer disk, same thing. I tried all things I could think of, no luck. Only thing that worked was booting back into Windows (ah, the irony!)
What to do? I tried SUM by holding down Command and S when the Macbook booted up. It went into the command line without problems and once that was finished I typed in "/sbin/fsck -fy". That command runs the utility that checks a volume to see if it's feeling okay. It's kind of like running the Disk Utility. After just a few seconds it started to show all kinds of error messages on the screen and after around 10 minutes it was apparently done. And it said "** The volume Macintosh HD was repaired successfully". Oh, bliss, I was happy again. But just to be sure, I ran the same command again and it reported no errors. To finish off, I typed "reboot" and the Macbook rebooted straight into Mac OS X and all works fine now. Finally, let me add one suggestion: before attempting anything with Bootcamp, make sure you have backed up your Mac. In this situation I had done a complete backup just before trying the installation.

[Magnus]

A first look at Microsoft's Zune
by MacUAE

The digital media player market is a market dominated by Apple’s iPod, which can now play music, photos and videos. And how can we forget the amazing iPhone announced recently at MacWorld 2007. The slick revolutionary mobile device that redefines how mobile phones should be from now on. If Apple can not use the iPhone name for legal reasons I think they would definitely call it iPod mobile!

From the dark side
But today, we are not talking about iPods. I can assure what this article is about is nothing that Apple would dare release. It’s a device from a company many consider to be Anti-Apple. Yes, Microsoft. And let me set things straight; I do not think that Windows is bad and Mac is good. People can choose whatever side they prefer. Although we’re getting more user from the "dark side of the moon" recently, Windows is the dominating power in the personal computer business, for now. So Microsoft decided to challenge Apple and release their own ‘Digital Media Player’ and they call it Zune.

What's a Zune?
What’s a Zune? Well I looked it up in the dictionary and it proposed dune, June, rune, tune, zone, zuni. No Zune! Well to be fair, even iPod is not there. Anyway, I wanted to get the Zune for many reasons. I like to own unique gadgets, for one. How is the Zune unique you might say? Well, this device might be Microsoft’s only contribution to the iPod World. Moreover, I just wanted to get one. I have this feeling that I owe Microsoft the chance to try their best offering in the hard-drive based music player business. And owning over 10 iPods, a Zune would complete the collection for me in a bizarre way.

It's no iPod
So how does it compare to the iPod? Lets me say that it like Windows. It will never be Mac OS X. Yes it can do everything an iPod can do. Well in a sense. Lets start with the positives. The box is neat, very Apple-like. Once you pull the top off, you’re welcomed by the phrase “Welcome to the social”. I felt there’s a word missing there for some reason. Anyway, enclosed in the box is the Zune (30Gb and white, headphones (surprise!), a data/charging cable, software and manual. The whole package oozes quality and creativity, but it is not Apple. The device itself is a nice solid block of matte plastic meaning I don’t have to clean it every time I touch it (see "How to keep your iPod clean and shiny", shuffle December 2006), which has a nice screen and click-pad. On top there’s the familiar lock switch and headphones plug.

Loaded with music
I hookup the Zune to my iMac, and yes I know it doesn’t work with Macs, but I needed to charge it. Charging through USB is an international language. I started fiddling with the device and to my surprise it was loaded with music. Overall it's a nice music player, I don’t think there is room for innovation in the sound area. The menus are nice, nothing special. Other than music, videos and pictures, the Zune has a built in Radio tuner. Thats a good addition to have I guess. The menu feel & animation is good, again nothing special.

Doesn't work with Parallels
After charging I tried to connect it to my MacBook Pro which has Windows XP running on Parallels Desktop, but that didn’t work for me. I don’t have a Windows version setup in a BootCamp partition as I heard it should work there. So I guess I will not cover the software side of the interconnectivity. From what I heard its not a great experience, so if you are interested you can find more on the net.

Squirting
Feeling let down on the whole experience, I wanted to try the infamous and much lauded sharing feature. Basically, it works with other Zunes in the vicinity. You locate a fellow Zuner or Zunette, you point and ‘squirt’. Yes, squirt. Since I didn’t have another Zune to try it on, I started squirting to my iPods. No fun. I was a bit messy to say the least. So lastly, out of boredom, I tried to hookup the Zune to the XBox360, a fellow Microsoft device. They met and synced (no squirt required), but nothing more. My guess it that I don’t have my own media to ‘stream’.

The final word
Would I recommend a Zune? No, it’s nothing special. It doesn’t connect to a Mac. You can’t use it as storage device. This article doesn’t cover the details of what Zune can do or its Music Store (not sure if its offered in the Middle East), but I guess I already know what it can do. I have my iPods and that's enough for me. I guess my white Zune will be a white elephant. That is until I can find another Zune to share squirts with.