Maccast 04.16.2013 - Show #440
Links
V Opening
V Opening Music
* Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
* Mandaandthemarbles.com
V Sponsor: CrashPlan
V CrashPlan
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V News
V New Macs will have Gigabit Wi-Fi
* Last time we heard rumors from Digitimes that Apple might be looking to refresh it's Macbook lines this Spring
* If and when they do it not looks like the could come with Gigabit Wireless on board
* Even if they don't it appears Apple is getting the OS ready to support it.
* Apple released the latest builds of OS 10.8.4 to developers for testing and at least one eagle-eyed dev noticed that there are new code strings indicating the OS will support 802.11ac Gigabit wireless
* The strings were found inside the 10.8.4 updates WiFi-frameworks folder and were not there in 10.8.3
* We had already heard in past rumors that Apple had been working with their Wi-Fi chip supplier Broadcom on aquiring 802.11ac chips for future Macs, so this would be another step in the upgrade chain.
* 802.11ac is the 5th generation of the 802.11 standard and will also bring extended range along with the improved speeds.
* Of course along with the new chips in Macs we'd also need to see new routers supporting the standard. I would assume if and when Apple releases updated Macs with the chips that we'll see an update to it's Airport base stations as well.
V PC (and Mac) sales continue to slide. Maybe?
* A new IDC report claims that the latest quarter numbers are the worst ever since the firm started tracking PC sales in 1994
* They say shipments fell 13.9 percent for the latest quarter, far worse than the predictions which were at 7.7 percent
* This marks the forth consecutive quarter of PC shipment declines.
* They firm cites declining interest in mini notebooks along with increased demand for tablets and smartphones as the main contributing factors.
* They also claim that while they had hoped Windows 8 would increase some consumer demand that the drastic UI changes and move to touch screen PC, which add cost, seemed to have just pushed consumer more to tablet alternatives.
* Interstingly IDC says Apple "faired better" than other PC manufactures, but still saw a quarterly decline. They however failed to provide a number.
V Gartner had a little bit more positive numbers, yet still pretty grim. The said PC shipments fell 11.2% year over year for the quarter.
* They too didn't give a specific worldwide number for Apple, but did note that in the US Apple's PC shipment rose 7.7% for the quarter.
* That seems to indicate that Apple may have seen a significant decline internationally in Mac sales.
V More word Apple's dropping Samsung
* Shocker! A story from the Korea Times claims Apple will not have Samsung produce it's next gen A7 processors
* The report says that Apple is sharing confidential data for its next A7 system-on-chip (SoC) with the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and that TSMC will produce the chips using a new 20-nanometer processing technology.
* This backs up many earlier reports and with Samsung's exclusive contract to produce Apple's processors ending in June the timing seems right as well.
* As for timing? Don't expect to see iDevices with A7 chips quite yet
* iDownloadblog says their sources are saying TSMC will begin risk production of chips sometime this Summer and are looking to be ready with volume shipments sometime in early 2014.
* Despite the exclusive contract ending with Samsung that doesn't mean they will be out of the picture completely. The transition might happen a bit slower. A Korea Investment & Securities researcher still think Samsung will have about 70% of Apple's chip business in 2014 with the rest being picked up by TSMC.
V Apple may add more Yahoo!
* A report out of the Wall Street Journal says that Apple and Yahoo! are at least talking about trying to integrate more Yahoo services on iOS devices
* When I first saw this report I dismissed it because most places were spinning it as Apple looking to move more services away from Google.
* Especially in search, I don't think that is something that Apple would do.
* But Yahoo already does provide stock, sports, and weather data for Apple and they do have data outside search that could be valuable, especially when combined with technology like Siri.
* So this probably more about Apple getting a better deal and more access to Yahoo data, like news, movies, entertainment, and other data. For Yahoo they may get a little more exposure and recognition in iOS which can help them as they look to re-strengthen their brand. A possible win-win for both companies.
V Apple to slim down next iPad
* A few new leaks seem to be supporting the idea that the iPad may bring back some of it's thinness
* In the move to a retina display the iPad 3rd and 4th gen models added on a couple millimeters
V Now images of a supposed rear panel and recent 5th gen case leaks from suppliers suggest the next model will be thinner while gain a redesign that takes cues from the iPad Mini.
* Think anodized black and silver back shells along with reduced side bezels on the displays.
V NPD DisplaySearch told CNet that Apple will be able to bring the thickness back down using two techniques.
* One, making the display more efficient
* Two, using more efficient LEDs
* That will enable them to reduce the size of the LED backlighting and thus the size.
* NPD also thinks Apple will switch to to a film-based touch sensor in their next gen iPad displays
* There is still debate on when we'll see the next iPad. Some feel it may happen later this month with other predicting a Fall launch.
V Apple trade-ins boost India iPhone sales
* Apple started a trade-in phone program in India to help boost sales of iPhones and it's worked out great.
* In India the idea of a subsidized phone is rare so most consumers must pay full price for the device making it hard for many consumers to afford.
* Apple had been offering a payment program, but after implementing a 'trade-in' program they say sales of iPhone 4s rise sharply and Apple rose to take second place in the Indian smartphone market.
* In the program customer can trade-in an old cell phone for a discount of at least 7,000 Rupee ($129) off the $488 price of the iPhone 4.
* The traded-in phones are then refurbished and re-sold in the countries big used-phone market, allowing retails to make back most of the discount.
* Consumers who trade in newer more desirable phones get even bigger discounts.
* The jump in sales supposedly surprised even Apple and of course competitor, like Samsung noticed too. They of course took another play from Apple's book and copied and implemented an almost identical trade-in plan for Galaxy and Note devices in India.
V Apple's "iRadio" edges closer to being
* The Verge is citing sources they say claim say that Apple is close to signing deals with two of the major record labels to allow them to provide a streaming iTunes radio service.
* "iRadio", as the media is calling it would allow Apple to compete more with music services like Spotify, Rdio, and Pandora which are gaining in popularity
* Apple supposedly is close to inking a deal with Universal Music Group and Warner Music and then would just need to work things out with Sony to have the top three labels on board.
* If you remember when we last spoke, there were rumors that Apple was in talks with Universal and Warner, but Apple wanted to pay a ridiculously low royalty rate for streams. About half of what Pandora, who currently has the best rate, was paying.
* Now according to the Verge Apple will pay rates almost identical to those Pandora is paying and while neither the label, not Apple is commenting that may have been the concession that got the ball rolling again.
* And while many are comparing iRadio to Pandora, the Verge report notes that iRadio will likely have more "on-demand" style features and is designed to help iTunes users discover new music, boost sales of downloads, and generate ad sales.
V Despite Apple possibly giving a bit on the royalty rates they still have quite an upper hand when it comes to digital music distribution
* NPD Group surveyed more than 12,000 consumers for their Annual Music Study for 2012 and Apple's iTunes cam out on top for music downloads
* The study found that iTunes accounted for 63 percent of the paid music download market for the 4th quarter of 2012.
* Not only that, last quarter 80 percent of digital music buyers used iTunes.
V And good news for the labels. Consumers want to own their music and streaming services only strengthen the desire for purchases. Why are we not surprised?
* Per buyer spending was actually up 6 percent year over year
* 40 percent of consumers still felt it important to own their music.
* and the belief in owning music was slightly stronger in consumers who listened to streaming music services.
* The study also found listeners were more likely to buy downloads of things they'd heard on a radio or on-demand service.
V Fingerprint scanner delays iPhone 5S
* While most reports we have been hearing are of Apple releasing new iPhone's this summer at least on analyst thinks it might not happen.
* KGI Securities analysts Ming-Chi Kuo say production issue may push the launch of both the iPhone 5S and low cost iPhone into the 3rd quarter
* On the iPhone 5S Kuo says the issue is the fingerprint scanner that is rumored to be being added to the home button. Apparently Apple and it's suppliers are having trouble finding color coatings that don't interfere with the scanners functionality
* For the low cost iPhone he says color are also the likely cause for delays. Apple is reported using a plastic shell in a number of different colors and Kuo says it will likely lead to production ramping issues for coatings and surface treatments.
* In almost direct contradiction to Kuo's not both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported that Foxconn has lifted hiring freezes and have begun hiring new workers in support of iPhone 5S production.
* The Wall Street journal is one of the sources that reported earlier that that production on the new iPhone would begin this quarter ahead of a potential summer launch.
* Regardless of when it's released don't believe the leaked photo of an iPhone 5S logic board with an A7 chip on it. It was proven fake, plus I just told you 20-nm production won'structuret be ramped up until next year. 😉
V The one new spec for the iPhone 5S that did gain some legs this week was that it would have a new 12MP camera module with an improved night shooting mode.
* A couple sources have speculated on a new camera, including Rene Ritchie at iMore, but MacRumors sourced the latest rumor from Wonderful Saigon Electrics, who reportedly specializes in providing camera modules for the iPhone.
V T-Mobile says initial iPhone 5 sales are "gangbusters"
* On April 12th T-Mobile in the US finally began offer the iPhone to it's customers
* The company's CMO Mike Sievert told AllThingsD that almost all their 3,000 stores experienced lines out the door on launch day.
* While declining to give hard numbers Sievert also said that the iPhone resulted in one of their biggest launch weekends ever and that sales exceeded T-Mobile's internal goals.
* T-Mobile is offering the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, and iPhone 4 and is selling the device with no-contract using a unique payment structure where consumers make a down-payment on the device and then may monthly payments for the hardware for 24-months. After that they own the device and get a reduced monthly bill.
* It's no secret that T-Mobile has been struggling, but with recent network improvements and support for great devices like the iPhone coupled with innovative and afordable cellular and data plans things might be turning up.
* That will be good not only for T-Mobile, but also for customers of their competitors. AT&T and Verizion may now have some additional incentive to work harder to keep their customer from finding an alternative in T-Mobile.
V Apple replacing some Apple TV 3s
* Apple has made retail stores, AppleCare employees, and authorized resellers aware of a known Wi-Fi issue with some third generation Apple TV units.
* They say the issue impact "a small number" of units but effected units are not able to locate a WiFi network, unable to join a network, and experience dropped or intermittent connections.
* Apple has authorized that units which are determined to have the issues can be replaced as part of a replacement program.
V Their document also specifies that units must be with a specific serial number range.
* The last four letters must be DRHN
V The 4th and 5th alphanumeric characters (originally reported as 3rd and 4th) of the serial number must contain one of these pairs:
* H9,HC,HD, HF, HG, HH, HJ, HK, HL, HM, HN, HP, HQ, HR, HT, HV, HW, HX, J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, J6, J7 , J8, J9
* 9to5 Mac pointed out that earlier this year Apple quietly updated the Apple TV (3rd generation) and that the updated version had a new Broadcom wireless chip.
* It's not too far a stretch to assume the update was in part a response to the discovery if these issue.
* If you think you have an effected unit I would recommend contacting Applecare, an authorized Apple repair center, or heading into your local Genius Bar.
V A bunch of software updates
V iPhoto 9.4.3
* Photos can now be deleted from My Photo Stream by dragging to the Trash
* Photos can now be exported from Photo Stream using the Export command in the File menu
* RAW images manually imported from My Photo Stream are now editable
* Fixes a bug that could cause manually-rotated photos to appear unrotated when shared to Photo Stream
* Addresses an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly while syncing to Facebook
* Resolves an issue that could cause calendar text to appear at the wrong font size, resulting in order cancellation
* Fixes an issue that could cause books to have an incorrect number of pages after rearranging two-page spreads
* Includes stability improvements
V Aperture 3.4.4
* Addresses an issue that could cause Aperture to quit unexpectedly during image import
* Nikon P7700 RAW images are now displayed correctly in the Import window
* Thumbnails with version names longer than 250 characters are now displayed correctly
* Fixes an issue that could cause multiple warning dialogs to appear when web albums are synced after waking from sleep
* Addresses an issue that could cause Aperture to quit unexpectedly when uploading photos to Photo Stream
* Shared Photo Stream invitation lists now scroll correctly
* Includes stability and performance improvements
V Safari 5.1.7
* Improve the browser's responsiveness when the system is low on memory
* Fix an issue that could prevent webpages from responding after using a pinch to zoom gesture
* Fix an issue that could affect websites using forms to authenticate users
* Disable versions of Adobe Flash Player that do not include the latest security updates and provide the option to get the current version from Adobe's website.
V Java for OS X 2013-002
* Delivers improved security, reliability, and compatibility by updating Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_43.
V Sponsor: Circus Ponies
V Notebook
* An app that has been installed and gets installed on every Mac I've owned for years.
* It's a "staple" app that you keep coming back to because of it's versatility
* First and foremost is a note taking app to easily jot down text and take outlined notes. Even support the Cornell note taking method.
V Buy it goes way beyond that
* Organizational tools with tabbed sections, notes, flags, and an auto generated table of contents
* Media support images, audio, drawing tools.
* Annotation
* Document and information organizer. Drop in files like PDFs, clip in text from Safari and Emails, Calendar items and to-dos.
* Plus it indexes everything in multiple was using the Multi-dex and it has Spotlight support
* And with the companion iPad app you can take your Notebooks on the go.
* There is a free trail available of the Mac app, so try it out today
V Feedback, Comments and Commentary
V First hand replacing a "trusted device"
* Andy had asked what would happen if you had to replace one of your "trusted" devices if you were using Apple's 2-factor Apple ID authentication
* I speculated last time that since it uses your SMS text phone number that just porting your number and SIM would work fine without having to re-set-up the device through Apple's Apple ID site.
* Guess I was wrong.
V Stephen had to do exactly this recently and he described the process
* He had to have his iPhone 5 replaced recently and had had 2-factor set up on his Apple ID with that iPhone 5 set up as a trusted device
* At the store they completely reset and erased the problem phone, removed the SIM card and put it in a new device
* When Stephen tried to have the authorization code sent to his new device the iMessage never showed up.
* They had to use the back-up verification key to access his Apple ID account
V Once in he could see two versions of his iPhone 5 listed as trusted devices.
* One said "verified"
* The second, the new one, had the option to add
* So they had to remove the old phone as a trusted device and then add the new one in.
* If you are simply getting a device replaced then be prepared to have your backup verification key handy so you can complete this process. Or I guess log in right before the erase and swap the SIM so you can get the verification code on the old device just before the port it.
V Archiving iMovie Projects
* Alan wanted to know about archiving old iMovie projects in the latest version of iMovie. Specifically to a NAS drive.
* iMovie will only see the internal volumes and locally attached drives by default from it's interface. I believe those volume also must HFS+ formatted.
V Moving projects and events between volumes inside iMovie
* In the Project window you should see the local and attached volumes on your Mac
* You can click the disclosure triangle and see which projects are on which volumes
V Now simply drag the project to the icon of the hard disk to which you want to copy it, and then choose "Copy project" or "Copy project and Events."
* If you choose "Copy project," none of the project’s video and other media (such as photos) is copied to the other disk
* "Copy projects and Events" will copy over the source video and other media to the same drive.
* If hold down the Command key as you drag the project then the options change to "Move project" or "Move project and Events." As it implies move will not keep the files on the original volume after they are moved.
V If you move a project but have not brought over it's associated source video and other media. You can bring that over with the 'Consolidate' option.
V Select project in the Project Library, and then choose File > Consolidate Media.
* If the Consolidate Media menu item is dimmed, all of the media used in your project is already on the same disk as the project.
V You then have three options:
* Copy the Events. - Copies over the events that contain clips used in your project
* Copy the clips - Copies ver only the clips from events used in your project
* Move the Events - Move the events that contain clips used in your project and deletes them from the previous location.
* When moving or copying event just be aware that if you have clips used in multiple projects all projects will be effected if you "move" events.
V Now what if, like Alan, you simply want to archive stuff
* You can archive projects to any volume, including NAS drives.
* The main limitation is that you can't see or edit the files on a NAS drive within iMovie, but you can always just copy projects and events back from your archive.
* 1) Open iMovie
V 2) Look at the Event Library and note the event name you want to archive. Look at the Project Library and note the name of the Project you want to archive.
* a) If you select a project and the corresponding event clips you can tell you have the right one as the clips used in the project should have orange lines under them.
* 3) Quit iMovie
* 4) In the Finder go to the folder that contains your iMovie files. Typically '~/Movies'
* 5) In that folder you should have an iMovie Events and an iMovie Projects folder and inside each of those you should find folders and files corresponding to the Event and Project names you noted earlier.
* 6) Copy the Events from the iMovie events folder to a corresponding folder on your archive (NAS) volume. Say NAS/Movies/iMovie Event Archive. Do the same for the Project file, NAS/Movies/iMovie Project Archive
V 7) Once you've confirmed the copy has worked you can go back to the folders on your main drive and remove the project and event you just archived.
* a) A warning here, if you have used the same event clips in multiple projects you don't want to remove the Event folder from the local drive unless you are planning on archiving ALL projects files associated with those event clips.
* 8) Reopen iMovie and you should no longer see the project or event
* If you ever want to restore the iMovie events and projects so you can work on them again, just basically reverse the procedure.
V Quickly type Emoji
* Richard likes to use Emoji characters in email on the Mac and wanted to know if there is a quicker way to access the Character Viewer
V Normally you enable it this way:
* Preferences > Languages & Text
V Click on the Input sources tab and check On the Keyboard and Character Viewer.
* You may also check on the 'Show Input menu in menubar' option to have access from the menubar
* The you can click on the icon in the menubar and choose 'Show Character Viewer'
V A window will appear with a list of character sets
* If you don't see one listed you want, click the "cog" > choose 'Customize list…' and check on the set you need. In this case 'Emoji'
* Double click on a character in the panel to insert it into a document or email.
* That's all a bit complex and it clutters up the menubar with one more thing.
V Luckily in Mountain Lion (and maybe earlier versions of OS X) if you look under the 'Edit' menu you will likely find the "Special Characters…" option
* In most cases it's shortcut defaults to Command-Option-T
* It brings up the exact same Character Viewer in many applications.
* For any apps, like Safari, that don't have a shortcut set you could add one using System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
V An even faster option might be to set up text replacements
* Preferences > Language & Text
* Click the Text tab and set up your replacement. Say, :) to replace with 😃.
V For those of us who use TextExpander there is an Emoji snippet set on GitHub
* Just download and double click to install the group if you have TextExpander installed
* ':shortcut:' is the default syntax.
V Clone Boot Camp partition
* Play review from Brad
* Winclone by twocanoes ($29.99 USD)
V If you just want to re-size the partition then you can use Camptune X from Paragon ($19.99 USD)
* Doesn't support encrypted drives. Turn off FileVault first
* Doesn't support Fusion Drives
V As you mentioned there are other ways of doing this for free using Terminal commands or maybe Disk Utility, but the procedures I've read about are complex and don't always end up with satisfactory results.
* They also seem to work or not based on various forms of the version of Windows you have installed.
* If your Windows requirements aren't really heavy you might consider using a virtualization solution. That uses disk images for the Windows install. They are backed up by standard Mac backup and can usually be resized using the Virtualization software. Most will even allow you to convert over your Boot Camp partition to a virtualized image
V Migrate to SSD
* Another hard drive cloning question from Sebastian.
* FileVault 2 is great and works fine with SuperDuper or Carbon Copy cloner. They can make clones as long as you've unencrypted the boot volume which would be the case for the software to run.
* Note that unless you've formatted your external drives as encrypted the data cloned to them by Super Duper or Carbon Copy cloner will not be encrypted by File Vault 2. File Vault 2 only encrypts the boot volume.
V Either way for a migration I would do the following:
* Disable File Vault 2
* Clone the drive
* Restore the clone to the new SSD
* Re-enable File Vault
V Also, Super Duper and CCC will NOT have the recovery partition in them since it is hidden from them. As a matter of fact even Disk Utility doesn't see this partition.
* The easiest way to get this back would be re-install OS X over top of the newly cloned SSD drive.
* Be aware that some low level stuff, like GIT, apache, mysql, may need to be reset up or re-installed.
* Backup first.
* Any user documents, applications, accounts, etc. are untouched by a re-install.
V Set default column widths in Finder
* Play question from Brad
* In the Finder for the most part the view is set on a window by window basis.
V If you want a view to apply to all Windows
* Open a window in the view you want to set. You need to do each icon and list views separately
* Choose View > Show View Options (Command+J)
* Set the column widths the way you want and any other universal settings in the info panel.
* At the bottom click the 'Use as Defaults' button
* Now all windows you open in that view should have those settings.
* If you change a specific window though it will adopt and maintain those new settings, but just for that window.
V Closing
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V Thanks to my sponsors
* Circus Ponies
* Smile
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