Exploring the Interwebs on Columbus Day from heathaplexVISION on Vimeo.
Are you enjoying Columbus Day? In the words of Bruce Dickinson, “Explore the Space!” Check out what’s happening in the world of tech and gadgets. Thanks for following and thanks for all your support!
Upgrades to operating systems always seem to make me nervous. Maybe it’s years of flashbacks to my days with Windows, but I admit I was a little shell shocked about downloading Apple’s latest OS. Perhaps it was the way Apple delivered this beast of an upgrade that put me and many others at ease.
First, it’s $29.00! What….yes….$29.00 and I don’t mean $29.00 for each Mac you own. This price tag will cover the install over all my Macs. Second, they delivered it through the App Store. No more discs, no more waiting for the mail and tracking my delivery via FedEx like a hungry predator. I woke up, opened up the App Store and there it was…practically begging me to click install. Trust me, I heard the voices and they sounded like James Earl Jones. And finally, no prep required. Just download and install. No need to backup anything (but that’s a risk I assumed), no transferring of files and certainly no need for additional drivers and such. The only drawback to my plan was the fact that it downloaded at only 1 Mbit per second (nearly 7 1/2 hours)….through no fault of the App Store. Just a fact of where I was at the time. Despite the day-long download process, I am thoroughly impressed and overly satisfied with this upgrade. There is a bit of a steep learning curve to gaining access to all the goodies, but it’s a stark improvement. Here are a few of the things I currently enjoy about Apple’s OS X Lion.
Mail: Completely redone and looks amazing! Acts more like mail on the iPhone and iPad. I love that it tracks previous conversations and the search capabilities are powerful!
Address Book: Absolutely beautiful! Looks and feels like a real address book. Also gives you the capability to make Face Time calls from your contacts. Even lets you take photos or import photos for your contacts.
Calendar: Major updates! Full year view with a heat map, highlighting your busy times throughout the month. You can finally increase and decrease the size of the font by holding down Command and (+ or -). Quick event entry works like Google calendar and the daily view is now more user friendly for the incorporation of lists.
Mission Control and Launch Pad: The Mission Control feature allows you to quickly view all the apps you have open…think expose and spaces merged together in a way that is far more effective. Activate it with a simple gesture. Launch Pad gives you the ability to launch your apps in a familiar fashion like you can on your iPad and iPhone. You can create folders and move them around in any order you wish.
Gestures: Tons of new gestures to learn and this will take me a little bit of repetition before I got them all down and committed to memory. You can see demos of them all by going to your System Preferences (Trackpad) setup. They all work great and I will be relying on them frequently.
I could go on and on…much like I already have, but visit Apple’s website to grasp the some 250+ changes/updates they’ve made to this operating system. This was a major update that I already love and no one comes close to the price tag of $29.00. This Lion has certainly earned the right to be called the King of the Jungle!
Ever since the new iPod Nano came out I’ve been watching a variety of companies who design accessories for iPods and such to see how they might create accessories for this Nano. The uniqueness of the new touchscreen iPod Nano is practically screaming to be made into a watch and I’m starting to see more and more designs come to life. This one in particular caught my eye and I thought you would all like to see what the TikTok and LunaTik have to offer. Enjoy the video!
For more information or to order yours today visit: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits
TikTok+LunaTik MultiTouch Watch Kits for iPod Nano from Scott Wilson on Vimeo.
AppleTV’s Little Black Box from heathaplexVISION on Vimeo.
heathaplexVISION reviews AppleTV. This is Apple’s 2nd generation home media device. To find out more about this and other home technology visit www.heathaplexvision.com. Find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/heathaplexvision or on Twitter at: heathaplexvsn. Let me know what I can do to help!
I am a big fan of form and function and certainly would not pass up the opportunity to showcase a fantastic product. If you’re an iPad owner, I can only assume you want the best protection possible. So why not add a little beauty, grace and class to complete the entire package. Enter the DODOCase. For $49.95 you can have yourself a moleskin look-a-like case for your iPad. The tablet actually sits in a precision cut bamboo shell. The entire case is finished off with a faux-leather look can feel. Just like one of those ever-so-popular moleskin journals. If you are interested in buying one for yourself, check out their website a www.dodocase.com. The only thing I can find wrong with this product is the 4-6 weeks for production and shipping. Oh well….I still think it is worth the wait.
I just finished my late night check of Macrumors.com (my nightly ritual) and noticed there were several reviews as some lucky folks were able to get their hands on the new iPad a few days early to the April 3rd launch date. Check out PC Magazine’s review below.
Expand Your Wireless Capabilities With Apple’s AirPort Express from Heathaplex Vision on Vimeo.
Part Wi-Fi access point. Part wireless router. AirPort Express just works, seamlessly and wirelessly, with all your Wi-Fi devices. In fact, it’s the easiest way for everyone in your family to share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without messy cables.
• AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows guides you through the process, and you’ll have your network up and running in minutes.
• Take the music from the iTunes library on your computer and sends it wirelessly to any stereo or speakers in your home
• Print wirelessly through AirPort Express–it’s almost like having a printer in every room of the house
• Wirelessly share photos, movies, and other files without having to worry about slow data transmissions
• The AirPort Express Base Station now features 802.11n, the next-generation high-speed wireless technology included with most shipping Mac computers and some newer PCs with compatible cards
• Industry-standard encryption technologies built into AirPort Express, including WPA/WPA2 and 128-bit WEP, plus a built-in firewall that creates a barrier between your network and the Internet
Happy New Year Everyone! 2010 is now upon us and I want to encourage all of your to focus on your future and find something you are passionate about. Heathaplex Vision is still an infant, but expanding everyday. In the coming year Heathaplex Vision plans to start a video podcast with all kinds of tips, installation/how-to videos, guest appearances, and just good old fashion fun with the world of tech. In addition to airing Heathaplex Vision.TV, I plan to officially launch the Heathaplex Vision Website with more features to meet your needs. I am also very excited to setup the Heathaplex Vision Swag Hut with T-Shirts, Hats, etc… There’s nothing like showing your support with some good old fashioned Swag. Might even give some away to my faithful followers. These are just a few things I plan to add to Heathaplex Vision in the coming year.
Most importantly, I want to thank each and everyone one of you who have visited my site and shared it with friends. My mission is to provide you the best content I can based on my knowledge, research and your questions, insight and needs. My passion is simple: Sharing and Caring! I want you to learn something from my site and pass it along to your friends and family. There are so many cool devices and technologies out there that it is easy to get overwhelmed. Some products are good and some are not. What matters most is that you are happy and you are taking advantage of what the tech world has to offer.
Top 5 PREDICTIONS FOR 2010: I would like to start a tradition of giving you my tech predictions for each coming year. That way when they come true I can say, “I told you so!” Realistically though, I’ll probably be hearing from you, “You were way off, pal.” Either way….here are my predictions for what we will see in 2010:
1. 3-D Capable Television Sets: There are a few out there, but this will be the year when they really start hitting the market. It won’t explode like HDTV flat screens did in the beginning because the content will take time to build, but I think you’ll start to see some affordable sets in the coming year.
2. Wireless Audio/Video Streaming: Sony already has a television that streams signals from a standalone box to the television….no wires are plugged into the television. I think this will be huge in 2010 as people cry out for Home Theater systems that are free of the cable clutter.
3. Tablet Computing: This is the year Apple enters into the ring of tablets. The rumors are already flowing with a January 26th announcement date from Apple. Just like Apple redefined MP3 Players and Smartphones with the iPod and iPhone, they will showcase a “Tablet” that puts all the others to shame and revolutionizes the market. Don’t count out Microsoft though….they will also introduce a tablet of their own.
4. E-Book Readers: Newspapers and Magazines are already prepping for the e-book revolution. According to Amazon, Kindle eBook downloads far exceeded actually book purchases over the holidays. We will see a standardized ebook format and by the end of the year, you will see a color version of an e-book reader. This will signal the end of magazines as we know it.
5. Finally, Google Navigation (with Google Maps) will appear in American-made Automobiles! My guess is that GM will take advantage with Ford already knee-deep in Microsoft services. The New Audi A8 offers an option for Google Earth Navigation and it looks amazing!
These are my predicitons for 2010. Call me a liar or jump on the Heathaplex Vision bandwagon. Bottom line folks, I want the very best for each and everyone of you in the coming year. Do something amazing this year! Reconnect with old friends, re-invest some much needed personal time with your families and look for ways to improve yourself. If you find yourself down and out in 2010, follow this bit of wisdom, as my good friend Stephanie once passed along to me when the world seemed to be falling apart around me:
“The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of you veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then – to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting” – Spoken by Merlyn in “The Once and Future King” by T.H. White.
This is going to be an amazing decade…don’t let it pass you by like the last. Do great things and continue to enhance your lives and those around you. I wish you all the very best. Happy Holidays from Heathaplex Vision.
