Tips and Tricks

Remember that cool iHub USB device that was briefly selling on M.I.C. Gadget, but then was pulled by Apple’s lawyers? It is back, and at a place you’ll probably feel a bit more familiar with: Amazon. Amazon has a few sellers selling that iHub again for prices (white, black) as low as $12.40. Interestingly, Amazon is fulfilling these orders (free shipping) which indicates that they might be complicit.

The iHub isn’t the only Apple branded device making its way through Amazon’s fulfillment centers. the iAccessory Store has a new look “silver” iHub for $9 (black too) and some questionable iPhone HDD enclosures as well as external speakers that bear the Apple logo.

An unboxing video from Nowhereelse.fr of the iHDD and iAudio below:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZFNi9SLFkU]

Not, “put this on my iPhone now” good but “wow, that’s interesting and must’ve taken a lot of hard work” good. Lifehacker explains:

You can now grab the theme via an app on Theme Outlet. Here’s how. (And make sure you have Dreamboard installed, as this is a Dreamboard theme and requires it.)

1. Open Cydia
2. Tap Manage Sources
3. Tap Edit, then Add, then add source fnetdesigns.com/cydia/repo
4. Go to the Changes section and install Theme Outlet
5. Close Cydia, go to your home screen, and open Theme Outlet
6. Browse for OS X Ultimatum and download it from there
7. Open up Dreamboard, browse for the OS X Lion Ultimatum theme, and install it.

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If you really want to turn your new MacBook Air out, OWC is offering up a new SSD upgrade option that promise up to 4X read/write performance (>500MB/s) over Apple’s factory installed SSDs. The SSDs, priced at $350 for 120GB and $600 for 240GB use a Sandforce 2200 controller.

• Tier 1/Grade A Toggle Synchronous NAND
• SandForce 2200 Series Processor

• Offers nearly 4x factory SSD capacity.**
• Compatible with 2011 MacBook Air

• Utilizes 6G SATA bus in 2011 MacBook Air to deliver over 500MB/s data rate performance

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In other OWC news, they mention that yesterday’s MacBook Pro update fixed lingering issues with the 6GB SATA port on the MacBook Pros (not to be confused with the 3GB Optical port.)

See performance benefits, below:

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VMware Fusion was upgraded to version 4 today with “over 90 new features” and low introductory $49.99 price. That follows the release two weeks ago of main competitor Parallels with many of the same Lion and speed improvements but heftier $79.99 price tag.

VMware touts three major areas of improvement:

We’re big fans of the Seagate GoFlex series of hard drives and, as of this evening, Seagate has pushed the size limit to an impressive 4TB on a single physical disk.

Currently the 4TB disk is only available in the form factor to the right for a significant $249 price tag. Obviously, the added density drives will filter down into other form factors including bare drives and RAID arrays in the coming weeks and months.

Seagate’ GoFlex enclosure got a facelift as well but alas, no Thunderbolt action for a few more months according to the press release.

As for the USB Desktop version pictured, we’re looking to get our hands on one for a review as soon as possible.  It is available for pre-order now for $229 at Amazon.

Full press release below:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5i9NsvOF9o]

A new app called Joypad allows users to play iOS games on their Apple TV. Granted, you will need an iPad and iPhone to get this to work, but as seen in the video above it works really well. After you download the Joystick app on your iPhone it will connect to the iPad via Bluetooth.

Once the connection has been made you can then push the game from your iPad to the Apple TV with Airplay. In effect you’ll be using your iPhone as a controller and your iPad as “console”. As of now the catalog of games is relatively small, but with the Joypad SDK any developer can add this capability into their apps. (via The Next Web). 

Download

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Apple has released a pair of new updates meant to fix video-locking issues on iMacs that run Lion and improve hardware compatibility when running Windows in dual boot mode on your Mac. The iMac Graphic FW Update 3.0 is now available for download, weighing in at a paltry 482KB. Apple says the firmware update “fixes a graphics issue that may cause an iMac to hang under certain conditions”. You can also download this update by choosing Software Update from the Apple menu, in which case the update mechanism will determine whether your iMac’s graphics card needs updating and offer the refreshed software appropriately. Also, Boot Camp got a small update for Windows 7 (version 3.3).  The 200MB download includes critical bug fixes and hardware support. It is recommended for all Boot Camp 3.2 users and requires Windows 7 plus an existing installation of Boot Camp 3.2 on your system.

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We’ve been pretty envious of the Logitech Solar Wireless Keyboard that has been selling for months now for Windows PCs (though it does work on Macs with key mapping).   Amazon reviewers give it overwhelmingly positive feedback on the PC, it is thin and goes for three months without light.

Today, Logitech announced that a Mac version is on the way.  As a bonus, it is available in 5 colors including black, white and 3 different admittedly ugly pastels.  Interestingly, Logitech is selling it for $20 less than the list price of the $79.99 PC version at $59.99.  So much for the Mac Tax?

Besides the pastels, this product looks like a winner.  Sign us up.

Additionally, Logitech launched a $50 back mounted iPad speaker earlier this week.  It has batteries which last about as long as an iPad and also charges via USB.  I’m not immediately sure if I like this idea or more importantly, the implementation but, there it is:

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Details below:
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Cross-posted from 9to5google.com

Want to get your Game on in the new Google Games?

Tab for Google+ is an app available on the Mac App Store that brings Google+’s web functionality to the Mac desktop. The app is available for free and offers just about every feature plus.google.com offers — except Hangouts. Upon logging in via your Google account, you’ll be greeted with the main sections of the app: Streams, Photos, Circles, Profile and Notifications.

The sections follow suit with the functionality of the website. Streams and Photos curates content from the people you’re following. Circles allows you to see your list of circles and the content coming in from each specific one. Lastly, Notifications let’s you know what’s going on with your account.

Of course, this application won’t replace Google+’s website, rather it’s just a nice app that sits in your applications bar to view while you work. Perhaps if the website is more your thing, check out Google+ for Mac which is essentially just a browser window. We’re hearing the developer is working to make it native though. Check out another screenshot after the break:

Download Tab for Google+ — Download Google+ for Mac

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Annoyed by the small changes in Lion? A new app called Lion Tweaks allows you to quickly turn on or off certain features in Lion that may be bugging you. The free app does nothing revolutionary, because all of these tweaks could be accessed in Terminal, but it’s nice to have a centralized place. I’m already eyeing, “Change iCal Leather to Aluminum”. (via Betanews)

Download
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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8ob0yFxOL0″]

Youtube user appletvblack has posted a video of an HTML 5 game running on a 2nd generation Apple TV. The clever hacker played ‘Blackjack 4’ by installing Couch Surfer to obtain a web browser on his Apple TV and then simply navigated to the game. The game isn’t much, but it does show HTML 5 gaming is possible if Apple were to open it up… or if we just jailbreak. (via Redmond Pie)

A little tip for you weekend Lion users:

Launchpad feeling a little cluttered? Launchpad Control is a free application on OS X that will assist you in cleaning out the unnecessary apps in your Launchpad. The app is pretty simple in that you just check off which apps you don’t want to see . via LifeHacker

Download here.
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From 9to5Toys.com:

If you haven’t already upgraded your recent iMac, Mac Mini, or MacBook/Pro to 8GB of RAM, there are only 44 little dollars between you and a much faster Mac that can run more applications at one time.  9to5 affiliate partner Amazon has the Corsair 1333MHz Unbuffered CL 9 SODIMM Memory 9-9-9-24 1.5V DDR3 8GB Memory kit for $53.99 with a $10 rebate that runs out this weekend.

If you’ve got an older Mac that takes 1066MHz RAM, you can save another two bucks.

Upgrading the RAM in you Mac is usually pretty easy but see your Mac’s documentation for specifics.  Here are a few video guides:

• MacBook
• MacBook Pro
• Mac Mini
• iMac

Apple usually charges $200 to upgrade, so at $50 for 8GB of RAM, there is no reason not to get more new RAM. Hook yourself up with a 1TB hard drive ($109) or $256GB SSD while you are in there.

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Following TechCrunch’s finding that Facebook’s official iPad application can be found within their latest iPhone application update, Facebook shut down the find. Those who were not lucky enough to gain access early on are in the dark. Until now. iOS jail breaker extraordinaire, Chpwn, has managed to create a tweak that can easily turn any jailbroken iPad user’s Facebook for iPhone application into the full-blown iPad version. The tweak called FaceForward is dead simple: just install Facebook for iPhone on your jailbroken iPad, install FaceForward in Cydia, and run.

Update: Video of the installation and setup process after the break:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_vaZl0H56o]

TldToday has discovered in the recently released Macbook Airs speed is not consistent among SSDs. While running tests, TldToday found that the 128GB Samsung SSD in the 11-inch MacBookAir scored 246 MB/s write and 264 MB/s read speeds, but when he switched to the 13-inch model speeds dropped to 156 MB/s and 208 MB/s using a 128GB Toshiba SSD. Engadget ran similar tests and confirmed Tld’s findings. In the video above you can find how to check if your MBA has the faster Samsung, or the slower Toshiba. Let us know if you see speed differences in normal usage.

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Dragon just updated its Dictate software for Mac with some interesting new additions.  Most notable is the ability to dictate with your iPhone using an iTunes app.    Also, updated is the ability to Tweet or post to Facebook or search the web with just a command:

• “Post to Facebook [I love Dragon]”
• “Post to Twitter [Tweeting is so much easier by voice]”
• “Search Google for hula dancing lessons”
• “Search Bing for wedding dress repair”
• “Search Yahoo for gondola rentals”
• “Search Mail for RSVP”
• “Search Mac for history term paper”

The 2.5 update is free for 2.0 users.  For new users, the digital download is $180 and the physical box is $200.  A package with a Bluetooth headset is $300.

Full list of improvements below:
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[youtube=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8DTFdw7Q7Qe”]

Lifehacker has conducted a series of tests to see which is faster: Lion or Snow Leopard. As you can see in the video above, the two operating systems do about the same in almost every category tested, but Snow Leopard weasels out the win almost every time. To be fair, most categories were won by a very small margin. Lifehacker summarizes:

Boot	1:32	1:25
Compress a ~900MB File	0:51	0:59
Decompress a ~900MB File	0:10	0:09
Duplicate a ~900MB File	0:09	0:09
Encoder a Movie for iPhone in Quicktime X	0:56	0:53
Launch 9 Applications	0:59	0:37
Open 10 Tabs in Safari	0:15	0:17
Total Time	4:43+	4:29

Snow Leopard was built for speed and Lion was built to add functionality. It’s great to see Lion isn’t exactly slipping away on the speed end of things. How’s the speed on your end?

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As we first reported back in February, OS X Lion brings many new innovations but loses others like Front Row. Front Row, for those unfamiliar, is a full screen media interface for the Mac. Front Row made its debut a couple of major OS X releases back and essentially mirrors the initial Apple TV interface – in its Snow Leopard implementation. Since the news broke that the software is missing from Lion, reader Ralph Perdomo put together a little application to bring back the functionality.

Ralph figured out that he could take the Snow Leopard Front Row files and then compile it into a runnable application for OS X Lion. For those interested he took these files:

We have tried out the application and the tweak works. You do have to restart, though. Keep in mind this is very at your own risk. Since this is so easy, maybe Apple will slap Front Row into the Mac App Store and charge $4.99? Probably.

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From 9to5toys.com:

Amazon offers the Corsair 8GB (2x4GB) PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM 204-Pin Dual Channel Notebook Memory Kit, model no. CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9, for $54.99.99 with free shipping. The $10 mail-in rebate cuts it to $44.99.

The 8GB (2 X 4GB) DDR3 Laptop Memory Kit  is 1333MHz Unbuffered CL 9 SODIMM Memory 9-9-9-24 1.5V which matches recent iMac and MacBook Pro Specs.  Commenters at Amazon concur.

Got a 2009-2010 model?  Even better, save an additional $5

Apple charges 4X that for an 8GB upgrade:

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Facebook’s new video calling feature is specifically designed for each browser and OS combination out there.  Unfortunately, Facebook didn’t account for those people using Lion (You’ve got a week Facebook).

The fix is easy however: Just change your Browser user agent to something a little more traditional and you are video chatting.

For instance, in Safari, hit up Safari 5.1-Mac and you are golden.

Hit up here for other browsers.

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