If you are looking to buy an Apple computer then your timing is perfect. Apple has just refreshed their computer lines and also offers special deals, like “back to school” or “Buy a Mac for college, get a free iPod Touch”. Enough said about marketing policy. If you are looking for a MacBook a few reminders are necessary. Remember that the 2008 MacBook line is not exactly the same with the line offered in the autumn of 2009. Apple made a really good move last year by adding to the MacBook plastic models new aluminum models. The plastic model received an upgrade also. Making this move Apple offered more value for small notebooks. But the MacBook line for 2009 suffered another change. From now the white plastic notebook is the only model standing on sale (at $999) in the MacBook line, while the aluminum 13” are now the entry – level notebooks for the MacBook pro line.

If you are looking for a good MacBook under $1000, than you should definitely look after the new MacBook. Some of the advantages that the new model has are regarding the small price, good design (most of the build flaws are gone), good battery life and a video chip. At the border of advantages and disadvantages stands the 2 GB RAM (for an everyday user, their enough). Let’s see a few specifications for the MacBook refresh: Intel Core 2 Duo 2,13 GHz, 2GB DDR memory, 160 GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, white polycarbonate shell. For extra money you can configure your own MacBook (4 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800 MHz – add $100, bigger hard drive – from additional $50 to $200 for the 500 GB unit, iWork, Final Cut Express 4, Aperture 2 and other accessories).



The dimensions have not changed: the height is 2.75 cm, depth 22.7 cm, while the width is 32.5 cm and the weight reaches to 2.27 kg (not a light small notebook). Surprisingly the plastic MacBook is thicker and heavier than the 13” unibody MacBook pro. In terms of construction the new MacBook is better build. The screen gives away that we are dealing with a low entry Apple notebook. The screen is not as bright as the ones from the aluminum models. MacBook’s screen size is 1280 x 800, medium value on a general basis, but good value for the 13” screens. Don’t expect vibrant colors or great viewing angles.

The MacBook uses a Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz CPU. It’s smaller and cooler running with 3 MB of level two caches than the older model. The speed is now at the value of 1066 MHz. the MacBook consumes less power improving the battery life. A good feature is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M. The chip has 256 MB of dedicated shared memory. Video playback is good. But then again all notebooks, with or without video chips, are capable of video playback.



Apple OS’s runs better and with less memory consumption than the Microsoft Vista. Immediately after booting the amount of random access memory used on the white MacBook is 290 MB. Microsoft Vista on the other hand is not such a great performer for the MacBook. After the boot the RAM memory used climbs to 600 MB. This is not a tragic result if you don’t depend on Vista software daily. For everyday use you should go with the Mac OS X on your MacBook and only use Vista when you don’t have a choice.

Apple upgraded the MacBook correctly. It is not a pro model but the features are enough to accommodate a normal user. The $999 price is attractive only if you don’t select special features. If you pass the $1000 line, you should consider buying the 13” aluminum MacBook pro.

The next generation of iPod Touch and iPod Nano will be introduced, for the public, next Wednesday at Apple media event in San Francisco.

There are many rumors regarding the 3rd generation of iPod Touch and 5th generation of iPod Nano. The most consistent rumor on the web, it’s about the possibility that the next generation of iPods will have digital cameras included. This rumor is considered consistent because of the leaked pictures of the new iPod Touch (which was sporting a central digital camera on the back) and also because of some pictures with cases for the next generation of iPods. The cases were spotted at the IFA electronics convention in Berlin. Their manufacturer seems to be Hama. The cases contained holes to accommodate digital cameras (hopefully the 3.2 MP) expected to be included in both iPod Touch and iPod Nano.

Other rumors regarding the Touch model is that it may have 3G HSDPA (this rumor maybe misleading because 3G could stand for iPod Touch third generation). Basically it would be a waste of resources if Apple will incorporate 3G in the next Touch. But Apple sure knows that 3G in touch would only blur the line even further between iPod Touch and iPhone range. So the iPod Touch is likely to get a decent digital camera (3.2 MP) but not other hardware updates. It would have been nice to see Skype load up on the Touch 3G s and revolutionize the mobility community.



Regarding the next iPod Nano, the rumor is that besides the incorporated digital camera, it would also get a wider screen.



Anyway, be prepared for at least two new iPod upgrades at this, famous by now, “rock and roll” event. At last year visit to the IFA electronic convention, Hama gave an early “access” to the cases of the 4th generation of iPod Nano, therefore no need to disbelieve the rumors that the next generation of iPods will incorporate cameras and a wider screen for the Nano.

Much time passed, little remains until the announcement.

The MacBook was first introduced in 2006 to replace the iBook. From that point on MacBook became the best selling Macintosh in history. Aimed at education and consumer markets, the MacBook is a popular model throughout the world. MacBook Pro was released in 2008 and uses features like: the glossy display, the sunken keyboard design, and the non-mechanical magnetic latch.

Although users are satisfied with the MacBook Pro, on the dedicated forums many of them are confronted with the next problem: they have an old television and they cannot connect the television to the MacBook Pro.

Apples has taken out he mini DIVI port and replaced it with a mini display port. But this is not a problem for those with a high definition televisions that could still run the display port right to their TV. It is more of a problem for people with analog television who can't hook it up because the display port only carries digital signal. Many voices say that it can't be done, that it involves too much money or that Apple will never bring up an adapter for it to work.

Next, you can follow a step by step presentation that will enable you to connect your television to the MacBook Pro. The main problem is that the majority of MacBook or Macbook Pro users don't know how to take a digital signal and connect it to their old television.



The first thing you have to do is buy a converter box which can take the digital signal and put it into analog form so that your old television can work. The converter box has a VGA port in and out, it has a VGA port, S video and composite video . On the side, the box has a power source which will be connected to the USB. That means that instead of using DVI you are going to have to get the mini display port to VGA cable which costs around $30. So, you have to get the Apple mini display to VGA adapter which it can be purchased from Apple website. Then, you need a way to connect your VGA adapter to the TV converter box. This can be done by connecting a VGA to VGA cable. The VGA cable will be connected to the converter box . From the converter box you can choose between VGA, S Video or RCA composite video- which is the typical yellow cable. You can choose the RCA cable if it fits better you television. In order to do that, you have to connect an RCA cable to the converter box and then to your television. Now, your television is connected to the MacBook Pro and you can watch on television the picture transmitted by the notebook, from digital to analogue.



The process itself is rather easy for those who know about the converter box. This is practically the key to the entire process. Now, with these information it is very easy to fulfill your wish to watch on your television what you have on your MacBook Pro.

iPhone and Nokia N95 represent the best products from the companies which manufacture them, and it often happens someone to compare these smartphones when potential customers are up to make a purchasing decision. The iPhone is more mass and entertainment oriented, while the N95 goes offering features to professional consumers. It's interesting to compare them step by step, on each feature, because this is how you can make a good opinion on both products and you can choose on of them for you.

Some people would say that iPhone is not a smartphone, but I can contradict them because this device is a great feature phone and it has been created on a great software engineering base. The browser is pretty cool and the phone's media player is outstanding. It is very easy for iTunes users to upload photos, music and videos. It is also very easy to sync the calendar, the bookmarks and the contacts, and this makes this phone a cool personal use device, and not only, it can be successfully used by business users, after they install few applications from the AppStore.

N95 can do the things I've mentioned, but it takes a little more time to configure the sync process and there are no available solutions for syncing on Mac products and you can't sync your bookmarks. For Nokia users, there is Nokia PC Suite, but it can't be compared to iTunes or bookmark syncing on iPhone. iPhone can only send SMS messages to a single contact, and you can't forward a SMS to another person. Moreover, SMS is not offered by iPhone. For users who got used sending pictures over MMS, they will have to reconsider the e-mail support on iPhone. On iPhone, you can set up as ringtones only tracks you got from iTunes, while Nokia N95 offers the possibility to use any sound file you like as a ringtone.



Marketing can make miracles and make something to seem in clients' perception that it is more than it really is. Apple strategy is stunning, and we all "know" that iPhone is everything you need, in a nice packaging; you even get a red bow and it looks great: you have an iPhone, which includes all the features you need. Apple support their strategy by targeting a mass audience, and actually the product they sell and the image they create for it fits a lot of people. Nokia, on the other hand, has a different marketing strategy and they are targeting intense mobile users, and sometimes professionals.

Nokia N95 has the video center application installed, which is great for browsing, downloading and watching videos from various sources, including the well known YouTube. Flash Lite 3 is upcoming and it will offer users the possibility to view videos on web pages too. iPhone can do this only with h.264 content, and its media capabilities are still under development.



N95 has a 5Mp camera, a great flash and it can record at 30fps at a very good resolution. DVD-quality, as Nokia says is a quite stretch term for their video quality on N95, but the results are stunning, and you can compare it to something projected on a large screen. N95 can post images to Flickr and videos to Vox (the images with EXIF included and at full size), and the third party applications allow you to post content to blogs or in other online destinations. iPhone has a 2 Mp camera, which is good for still pictures, but has no video support, and when you want to send any picture, the iPhone automatically resizes it to 640x480 and erases the EXIF.

Both smartphones have 802.11g WiFi connection, but when you start downloading content or you stream it over 3G connection in a train or in a car, you might expect more then what WiFi offers; EDGE is good to check the email you have received. N95 can be used as a Bluetooth modem for the laptop, thing which cannot be done with the iPhone. N95 is great for transferring large files, and for this you really need a good speed.

Nokia N95 and iPhone have the same core engine for their browsers, webkit, and the iPhone comes closer to a desktop experience, because tabbed browsing is available, and Safari also restores tabs if crash or restart happen. N95 doesn't support multi tab browsing and it actually doesn't have enough RAM resources for multiple window surfing. Maybe in the future versions of the browser we will have this capability too.

iPhone has been hacked to make room for more applications, and it seems to be a single firmware version hacking because it doesn't bring users an open system for applications, and this hacking process does not give the user total freedom over the iPhone. Developping Safari can be done through Safari and it actually limits you to online services, without any local storage, you cannot access the basic feature and sync them with your online version ( contacts, calendar). There is no API for serious developments, while N95 allows adding a lot of applications which suit your needs. You can snap pictures and lifestream them to Flickr, and this is done with more applications: Zonetag accesses the location data and uploads it along with the picture and the EXIF data, for example.



The main advantage is that N95 is an unbranded unlocked device, while iPhone is strongly linked to AT&T carrier. N95 allows you to do whatever you want with the device, and you are free to change the SIM card, according to the carrier available, if you travel a lot, for example.

iPhone is a very strong product, very well marketed, which offers people more than they ever considered to be a handset, but there are advanced users who see beyond this commercial beauty and they might want something more advanced, like N95 offers, and which we hope to bring soon a visible firmware improvement. It's very important to choose the product which fits best your needs and preferences.

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and sold by Apple Inc. Released in 2001, iPod has several models: iPod classic which is a hard drive based player, iPod touch- which has a touchscreen, iPod Nano- which is video capable and iPod shuffle which is very compact.

When Apple started creating software for the personal digital devices- that was the moment when the idea of the iPod came up. At that time music players were either large and complicated or small and useless, so, Apple took the decision to develop a music player of their own. The Apple CEO, Steve Jobs authorized Apple's hardware engineering chief Jon Rubinstein to create a team of engineers to develop the iPod line. In that team were included Tony Fadell, Michael Dhuey and design engineer Jonathan Ive. The team was successful and in less than a year the iPod was released - on 23 October 2001. Steve Jobs described it as a Mac-Compatible product with a 5GB hard drive.


Apple did not develop the iPod software entirely in-house, instead using PortalPlayer's reference using 2 ARM cores. This platform had rather rudimentary software running on a commercial microkernel embedded operating system. Apple collaborated with another company, Pixo to help design and implement the user interface under the direct supervision of the Apple CEO. As time passed, Apple continued to refine the software's look and feel. The fonts and themes of these pieces of engineering were changed a couple of times, getting better and better.

With the introduction of the iPod Classic in 2007, Apple changed again the music player's interface by changing the font to Helvetica and in most cases, splitting the screen in half by displaying the menus on the left and album artwork, photos, or videos on the right.



In September, Apple was confronted to a lawsuit with the patent holding company Burst.com. During the lawsuit, Apple drew attention to a patent for a similar device that was developed in 1979. The one who patented the idea, Kane Kramer , referred to a plastic music box which he called IXI. However, Kramer was unable to o secure funding to renew the $ 120000 worldwide patent, so it lapsed and he never profited from his idea.

The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter. He was called by Apple to develop a way to introduce the new music player to the public. When he saw the prototype, Chieco immediately thought of the film " 2001-A Space Odissey " and the phrase: "Open the pod bay door, Hal!" which refers to the white Eva Pod form the Discovery One spaceship. After researching, Apple found out that the name was already in use. Joseph N Grasso had originally listed an iPod trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office for internet kiosks. In 2005, Grasso assigned the trademark to Apple Computer Inc.



The iPod is nowadays one of the most popular music and multimedia players, it is part of the urban culture. Being under the Apple name- which means quality, top technologies, attention to details- has given the iPod the opportunity to travel around the globe, even in the poorest areas.