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Apple To Launch New 15" Macbook Air Ultrabook Slayer In Q1/12
Larger 15-in. MacBook Air 'Makes Sense' for Apple - Analysts
Netbooks May Disappear
Macs In Your Business: InfoWorld's Expert Management Guide
Enterprise Users Get Schooled with Video Tutorials for Mac, iPad, iPhone
Why Apple Is The New Dell
MacBook Pro Systems Still Freezing Despite Video Update
Why One Professional Prefers Human Transcription to Voice Recognition Software
Mission Control in OS X: Don't Forget The Pinch
Free WLAN Site Survey Software for Mac
Apple To Launch New 15" Macbook Air Ultrabook Slayer In Q1/12
Digitimes' Aaron Lee and Joseph Tsai report that according to sources from the upstream supply chain, Apple is fixing to launch a new MacBook Air series of notebooks with screen sizes of 11.6-inch, 13.3-inch and an unprecedented 15-inch Air in the first quarter of 2012 to better directly compete against Intel Ultrabooks from various PC brand vendors, n.
Lee and Tsai's sources say that related upstream players have already started pilot production of the MacBook Air models and will add a 15-inch model into the product line to expand Apple's reach in the ultra-thin notebook market.
Commenting on Apple's move, unnamed sources in the retail channels told Digitimes that Apple will begin dropping the price of its existing MacBook Airs before launching its series and the promotion could further boost Apple's share in the global notebook market.
The reporters note that for the year-end holidays, several channel retailers in the US and Europe have dropped their MacBook Air prices to attract consumers, but suggest that
ultrabooks with Windows and document processing software will remain a more attractive choice for the enterprise market.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20111128PD207.html
Larger 15-in. MacBook Air 'Makes Sense' for Apple - Analysts
Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports that commenting on Digitimes' report that a 15" MacBook Air is coming in early 2012 when Apple refreshes the entire MacBook Air line, analysts are saying that a larger Air makes sense given fresh competition in the ultrathin notebook category from Intel Ultrabooks being rolled out by several PC vendors, with HP set to launch its first ultrabook, the HP Folio, on Dec. 7 - a 13.3" machine at prices starting at $900, or $99 under Apple's cheapest MacBook 11.6" Air.
Keizer speculates that the MacBook Air will presumably include Intel's newest Ivy Bridge family CPUs with are projected to double battery life compared to the current Core chips that power the Air line, combine the CPU with the graphics processor, and provide a performance boost as well.
The report also observes that Apple is well-placed to shift sales to notebooks with solid-state drives (SSD) in the face of a severe hard disk drive shortage caused by floods inundating key HDD component suppliers in Thailand, thanks to Cupertino's contractual locks on flash memory supplies of the flash memory used in SSDs.
Analyst expert opinion cited affirms that a 15" MacBook Air is a virtual certainty, but that Apple is not expected to dump its upmarket MacBook Pro line, which comes in 13-in., 15-in. and 17-in. screen configurations, and incorporates optical drives and more extensive connectivity compared with the MacBook Airs.
For the full report visit here:
http://bit.ly/sFw3v7
Netbooks May Disappear
HardMac's Lionel notes that in 2008, Asus launched the EEEPC, a small, cheap, 7" laptop, and for a few months, this computer and its very many variations had an enormous success as a second or third machine.
However, he observes that netbooks, as they came to be known, have been hit hard since the arrival of the tablets, which can serve a similar role, but with a top-of-the-range product design while the netbooks often seem like a child's toy.
Consequently, Lionel is not surprised to learn that Samsung has announced that it will discontinue marketing its netbook product range in the next months, noting that for now, tablets will continue to dominate the market for portable computers with screen sizes up to 10". Beyond that, the winners will be ultrathin notebooks between 11 and 13" and above that more traditional laptops, or even non-traditional ones with Apple reportedly poised to release a 15" MacBook Air "ultraportable".
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/tmSttB
Macs In Your Business: InfoWorld's Expert Management Guide
InfoWorld staff say that as the Macintosh becomes a common tool in today's enterprise, IT has much to learn about effectively working with the Apple platform, noting that Macs may be a minority of PCs in any business, but these days they are used by most businesses. And as more companies roll out "choose your own PC" and "bring your own PC" policies, IT will only need to be more familiar with managing Mac OS X systems.
To help IT manage Macs, InfoWorld has compiled an 18-page "Business Mac" Deep Dive PDF special report that's chock-full of hands-on tips, techniques, and tools for managing everything from user access to security the journal's roster of Mac experts. The Deep Dive report gives special attention to the newest Mac operating system: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and its Server counterpart.
You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/u5REYF
Enterprise Users Get Schooled with Video Tutorials for Mac, iPad, iPhone
smallbusinesscomputing.com's Andrew Lock says:
Is the iPad 2 Right for Your Small Business? Want to move some applications to the cloud? Learn the five best migration strategies and find out which may be best for your business by reading 5 Ways to Migrate Applications to the Cloud now with this new under-the-radar Web tool for you. It's for Mac users, but not just for the Macintosh computer, but also the iPhone and the iPad.
The Web tool is called ScreenCastsOnline, and on the site you'll find a variety of videos about how to get more out of your Mac, your iPad your and iPhone.
You can check it out at:
http://bit.ly/vkgIaU
Why Apple Is The New Dell
BetaNews's ascerbic but always readable Joe Wilcox notes that back in 1994, when Dell announced the end of retail sales, and that it would its business direct to customers, pundits scoffed, but Dell went on th become the No.1 PC maker by the decade's end. Now more than a decade after Dell peaked, Wilcox observes that Apple distribution, manufacturing and marketing is the envy of competitors. Both companies achieved similar supply-chain dominance, and outcome that seemed unlikely when Cupertino opened its first Apple stores in May 2001 in the middle of a reecession and a massive inventory of slow-selling PowerMac G4 Cubes on hand, and its stock valuation in the toilet. Nevertheless, then-CEO Steve Jobs pledged that Mac market share would exceed 5 percent globally, and now, another decade and 330 stores later, in third quarter 2011, Apple has passed the 5 percent global share milestone (not counting the paradigm-altering success of the iPad).
For the full commentary visit here:
http://betanews.com/2011/11/27/apple-is-the-new-dell/
MacBook Pro Systems Still Freezing Despite Video Update
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler notes that when Apple released OS X Lion, some mid-2010 MacBook Pro users noticed that their systems began hanging or crashing after performing seemingly random tasks that involved graphics manipulation or when waking from sleep. When this happened, the systems would show a black screen and be unresponsive until the user forced it to reboot.
After acknowledging that there is indeed an issue with these machines in a knowledge-base article, Apple released a couple of software fixes for both OS X Lion and Snow Leopard, which installed updated video drivers and OpenCL framework components. Kessler reports that for many affected MBP users, these updates successfully addressed the problem; but unfortunately for others the updates did not completely resolve this issue.
For the full report visit here:
http://cnet.co/smtbaz
Why One Professional Prefers Human Transcription to Voice Recognition Software
Writing for diagnosticimaging.com, Johnson B. Lightfoote, M.D. says that while voice recognition works, and has become a mainstay of many radiology practices, the traditional transcribing workflow has much elegance, ease and efficiency to commend it, and while he doesn't begrudge colleagues who effectively use voice recognition, he notes that there are issues many authors and he have with this process.
Lightfoote notes that transcribers can correct simple errors of binary confusion like left/right, centimeter/millimeter, man/woman, no mass/mass, vertebral body levels, but these errors easily slip by an author rereading his own work [as your editor knows only too well, being a moderate to heavy user of voice recognition software Ed.], but stand out clearly to a reader, whether a typist or a clinician customer.
He also points out that voice recognition doesn't work with simple or complex formatting, such as boldface, italics, automatically numbered lists, bulleted lists, tables, indents, boxes, font changes, and the like, and suggests that while flat mono-spaced unenhanced text that characterized the PC in the days of DOS may be, strictly speaking, an adequate commodity: just barely good enough for patient care. he prefers to differentiate his work product by making it more visually appealing, as did Steve Jobs with his first Macintosh.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://bit.ly/s8sOBk
Mission Control in OS X: Don't Forget The Pinch
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler notes that Apple's preferred methods for using its Mission Control feature in OS X Lion are multitouch gestures that can be set up in the trackpad system preferences. However, he notes that the problem with this is that without exploring the multitouch options in OS X, then people may resort to common gestures and miss some options that Mission Control has to offer.
A topic on wich he sheds some light at:
http://cnet.co/rAb8O6
Free WLAN Site Survey Software for Mac
Netspot is a new wireless survey software for Mac OS X. Find out what your Wi-Fi network is capable of right now, and it's free!
All you need to run your wireless site survey is your MacBook with native Wi-Fi / AirPort adapter. No special knowledge required. Exceptional simplicity, only two steps to get your first reports: survey Wi-Fi network and apply sleek visualizations.
Download NetSpot 1.1 wireless survey tool for MAC OS X 10.6+ here:
http://www.netspotapp.com/
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