I didn't get as much out of MacWorld this year as I did last year. I finished walking the expo floor after lunch and headed home. There were a few things that were interesting:
HARDWARE
Invisible Shield
If you don't like bulky cases for your ipod's, iphones and other gadgets this looks like a great product. Invisible Shield is a clear, polymer-like coating that is impermeable.
Rhino • Skin
A beautiful, light aluminum hardcases for both macbooks and macbook pros. Comes in either black or aluminum finish. I am taking one to Myanmar and well let you know how it works. The only thing I am suspect of is the cover latches. They seem a little flimsy.
iSkin
They have created a beautiful leather laptop case called Soho. Beautiful.
ScanSnap
Fujitsu just released their new portable color sheet fed scanner for the Mac called the ScanSnapS300M. It will operated on USB power from your laptop. It will hold 10 sheets at a time and do duplex (two-side) scanning in one pass. Looks like a great portable tool. It does not ship for a couple of months
IntelliScanner
The IntelliScanner Mini is an interesting device. You can use it to organize your books, dvd's, cd's etc. It's cordless and has a memory so you can scan a bunch of items and load them into it's data base. I have an old one with a cord, which is a hassle. The thing I was most interested in is that you can create a web-based data base of your books, films, etc and access the data base from any computer and from the iPhone. This is a breakthrough for me because you don't have to transfer the data base from computer to computer and you can access you library remotely.
Iris
IRIS just released a new TINY USB-powered sheet scanner called the IRIScan 2. It scans only one side but it weighs almost nothing. Scan quality is not to bad. I bought one and will let you know how it holds up.
SOFTWARE
Blurb
Blurb books, that you can order on-line, have come a long way. Their product is beautiful and affordable. I looked at several hard and soft cover books. The printing and binding was excellent. You download their software called "Blurb Booksmart", layout your book/cover and upload it. The product is far superior to Apple iBooks.
Recosoft
They have developed two interesting conversion programs. PDF2ID converts PDF's to InDesign documents and PDF2Office converts PDF's to files editable in Word, PowerPoint, RTF, AppleWorks and others.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Three Days to MacWorld
I didn't find much to add the the list this week. I'm sure I will find some great stuff next week at MacWorld.
SOFTWARE
Soundslides
I forgot to add one great program to the list. It's called Soundslides. It was designed for photojournalists to quickly get images organized into a Flash based slide show that could be uploaded to the web. It creates great slide shows with sound for the web.
MarsEdit
I also discovered MarsEdit. If you post to a blog this software allows you to compose off-line and then upload your post and images to your blog. Red Sweater Software offers this software. The guy that wrote the software and owns the company previously worked for Apple.
HARDWARE
Logitech
If video chat or use the video mode in Skype you will love this new, compact but powerful, Logitech camera. It is far superior to the camera built into the Mac Book and Mac Book Pro. I like it for two reasons. First, it has a wide angle lens. Second, it produces a bright, sharp image. It connects to your computer via USB. It has a built-in clip designed to attach to the top of your laptop screen. It also ships with a useful stand if you want to use it on your desk top.
SOFTWARE
Soundslides
I forgot to add one great program to the list. It's called Soundslides. It was designed for photojournalists to quickly get images organized into a Flash based slide show that could be uploaded to the web. It creates great slide shows with sound for the web.
MarsEdit
I also discovered MarsEdit. If you post to a blog this software allows you to compose off-line and then upload your post and images to your blog. Red Sweater Software offers this software. The guy that wrote the software and owns the company previously worked for Apple.
HARDWARE
Logitech
If video chat or use the video mode in Skype you will love this new, compact but powerful, Logitech camera. It is far superior to the camera built into the Mac Book and Mac Book Pro. I like it for two reasons. First, it has a wide angle lens. Second, it produces a bright, sharp image. It connects to your computer via USB. It has a built-in clip designed to attach to the top of your laptop screen. It also ships with a useful stand if you want to use it on your desk top.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Welcome to My New Blog
I enjoy investigating new hardware and software for my Mac. I decided to create a platform for sharing useful tools I discover as I read Mac magazines and RSS feeds on the web. I also intend to write about both things that have worked and not worked for me.
This first post will be longer than those that follow because I have quite a backlog of discoveries.
SOFTWARE
Vaja Cases
Their laptop and iPhone cases are elegant and beautiful! The cases are made of leather. The fit and finish is beautiful. They can be customized in a innumerable ways. They are one of the few companies that create an elegant, thin "hard sided" case for your laptop.
http://www.vajacases.com/home/home_en.html
Axio
These folks also create a true "hard sided" laptop case that I like. It's far less expensive than the Vaja because it is not made of leather. This is a great travel case. Very light.
booq
The folks at Booq create a great, thin, zippered laptop case. They are great if you are not looking for true "hard sided" protection.
Stilleto 10
If you have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio you might be interested in the Silleto. It's a portable device that's a little thicker that an iPod that you can use to listen to Sirus programming out side your care. It costs about $6 dollars to add it to your Sirus account. It works great. You can record up to 10 hours of programming on it. If you spend time outside this is a great tool.
I found the best price on Amazon.
HARDWARE
iPhone Applications
Initially I hacked my iPhone to gain access to more applications for my phone. I chose to go a different route after the last software upgrade for the phone. I have been using Safari based app's and have been pleased with them.This is the link to Apple's collection of Safari based applications for the iPhone. Generally there is nothing to install. You just go to the link directly on your iPhone then bookmark it.
http://www.apple.com/webapps/
iDo
To-do list app for iPhone. This is one of my favorite app's because you can update your lists either from your computer or phone. Very functional and useful. Worth the small fee they charge.
http://ido.pmade.com/
Google Labs
I am a devoted fan of Google's products. This blog was created using Google's Blogger. I use Google Reader, Google Notebook, Google Doc's and Spreadsheets and Google Desktop. To access these and other tools all you need to do is sign up for a gmail account. The thing I like most about using Google's products is that they "live" on the web. As a result I can use any computer, PC or MAC, to access my documents.
http://labs.google.com/
Gmail
This is the account page link if you want to set up a free account which will allow you to get started using all the great tools.
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
Skitch
This little program is in beta. I find it useful for adding notation to photos and screen shots although it is designed to do far more.
http://plasq.com/skitch
DoubleTake
This is the best and most simple panorama creation software I have found.
http://echoone.com/doubletake/
HandBrake
This is the software I use to rip movies from DVD's to my iPod or iTV. It is an outstanding program.
http://handbrake.m0k.org/
Audio Hijack Pro
I use this software to capture audio clips from iTunes and Sirus radio stations. It will capture any sound generated by your computer. I play the resultant clips on my iPod or through my computer to the sound system in our home.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/
Sharpshooter
This a great little app that automatically pops up when you make a screen shot so you can rename it before it hits your desktop. If you create a lot of screen shots you need this tool.
http://www.iwankerl.com/Software/Sharpshooter/
VisualHub
I use this software to convert various video formats into clips that my iPhone, iPod or iTV can read. I also use it to make self contained Flash clips. It is fast and can be set to convert a large queue of films.
http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
PhotoToMovie
This is the best software I have found for animating still photographs and converting them into QuickTime clips that I can add into my films which I edit in Final Cut Pro.
http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php
FotoMagico
This software produces the most beautiful slide shows at a super high resolution. I use this for photography slide shows. You can add text and a sound track.
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/
PhotoZoom Pro 2
I use this software to enlarge images to make big prints without loss of quality. It works very well.
http://www.benvista.com/main/content/content.php?page=ourproducts§ion=photozoompro_1
ShutterBug
I used this software to build my web site. I love it. Easy to use. I often use it to create html slide show files that we load on the web. The slide shows on the UPD site were built with this software. I prefer this software over iWeb because it is easier to manage several sites.
http://xtralean.com/SBOverview.html
AVOID THESE PRODUCTS
Elagato Turbo
This product is a software/hardware combination. The device plugs into a USB port. In theory it is supposed to vastly decrease the time it takes to convert video and movies to a format your iPod can use. I have found it very slow. The VisualHub software described above is faster and less expensive.
Maxtor Hard Drives
Do not be deceived by the cheap price of the Maxtor 1.5 TB drives. I have had two fail within the last 6 months! I have decided to use GDrives exclusively.
This first post will be longer than those that follow because I have quite a backlog of discoveries.
SOFTWARE
Vaja Cases
Their laptop and iPhone cases are elegant and beautiful! The cases are made of leather. The fit and finish is beautiful. They can be customized in a innumerable ways. They are one of the few companies that create an elegant, thin "hard sided" case for your laptop.
http://www.vajacases.com/home
Axio
These folks also create a true "hard sided" laptop case that I like. It's far less expensive than the Vaja because it is not made of leather. This is a great travel case. Very light.
booq
The folks at Booq create a great, thin, zippered laptop case. They are great if you are not looking for true "hard sided" protection.
Stilleto 10
If you have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio you might be interested in the Silleto. It's a portable device that's a little thicker that an iPod that you can use to listen to Sirus programming out side your care. It costs about $6 dollars to add it to your Sirus account. It works great. You can record up to 10 hours of programming on it. If you spend time outside this is a great tool.
I found the best price on Amazon.
HARDWARE
iPhone Applications
Initially I hacked my iPhone to gain access to more applications for my phone. I chose to go a different route after the last software upgrade for the phone. I have been using Safari based app's and have been pleased with them.This is the link to Apple's collection of Safari based applications for the iPhone. Generally there is nothing to install. You just go to the link directly on your iPhone then bookmark it.
http://www.apple.com/webapps/
iDo
To-do list app for iPhone. This is one of my favorite app's because you can update your lists either from your computer or phone. Very functional and useful. Worth the small fee they charge.
http://ido.pmade.com/
Google Labs
I am a devoted fan of Google's products. This blog was created using Google's Blogger. I use Google Reader, Google Notebook, Google Doc's and Spreadsheets and Google Desktop. To access these and other tools all you need to do is sign up for a gmail account. The thing I like most about using Google's products is that they "live" on the web. As a result I can use any computer, PC or MAC, to access my documents.
http://labs.google.com/
Gmail
This is the account page link if you want to set up a free account which will allow you to get started using all the great tools.
https://www.google.com/accounts
Skitch
This little program is in beta. I find it useful for adding notation to photos and screen shots although it is designed to do far more.
http://plasq.com/skitch
DoubleTake
This is the best and most simple panorama creation software I have found.
http://echoone.com/doubletake/
HandBrake
This is the software I use to rip movies from DVD's to my iPod or iTV. It is an outstanding program.
http://handbrake.m0k.org/
Audio Hijack Pro
I use this software to capture audio clips from iTunes and Sirus radio stations. It will capture any sound generated by your computer. I play the resultant clips on my iPod or through my computer to the sound system in our home.
http://www.rogueamoeba.com
Sharpshooter
This a great little app that automatically pops up when you make a screen shot so you can rename it before it hits your desktop. If you create a lot of screen shots you need this tool.
http://www.iwankerl.com
VisualHub
I use this software to convert various video formats into clips that my iPhone, iPod or iTV can read. I also use it to make self contained Flash clips. It is fast and can be set to convert a large queue of films.
http://www.techspansion.com
PhotoToMovie
This is the best software I have found for animating still photographs and converting them into QuickTime clips that I can add into my films which I edit in Final Cut Pro.
http://www.lqgraphics.com
FotoMagico
This software produces the most beautiful slide shows at a super high resolution. I use this for photography slide shows. You can add text and a sound track.
http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico
PhotoZoom Pro 2
I use this software to enlarge images to make big prints without loss of quality. It works very well.
http://www.benvista.com/main
ShutterBug
I used this software to build my web site. I love it. Easy to use. I often use it to create html slide show files that we load on the web. The slide shows on the UPD site were built with this software. I prefer this software over iWeb because it is easier to manage several sites.
http://xtralean.com/SBOverview
AVOID THESE PRODUCTS
Elagato Turbo
This product is a software/hardware combination. The device plugs into a USB port. In theory it is supposed to vastly decrease the time it takes to convert video and movies to a format your iPod can use. I have found it very slow. The VisualHub software described above is faster and less expensive.
Maxtor Hard Drives
Do not be deceived by the cheap price of the Maxtor 1.5 TB drives. I have had two fail within the last 6 months! I have decided to use GDrives exclusively.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)