This one’s for you HD buffs out there. Looks like there’s finally a method to easily playback Blu-ray discs on a Mac. That’s right, up until this point there’s been no real supported way to pop in a Blu-ray disc into a Mac.
The software, called “Mac Blu-ray Player” (I know right) will set you back $39.95.
Keep in mind this software still requires a Blu-ray drive, either internal or external. See TUAW’s link for recommendations on where to buy your Blu-ray player first.
For those of us who aren’t so predictable when it comes to taking care of our nifty gadgets, sometimes AppleCare and an iPhone case just don’t cut it. If you’ve been needing an insurance plan for your iPhone, AT&T is offering iPhone coverage through its standard insurance plan at $4.99/ mo beginning July 17 of this year.
Head on over to AppleInsider’s site to read the details.
We’ve been getting a good amount of questions from our friends and clients about the new iCloud service Apple announced in June. (Yes, we’re excited too!) As it turns out, along with iCloud, Apple will be discontinuing the MobileMe service. What does this mean for current MobileMe users? We figured it would be best for you to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.
In a nutshell, iCloud is better, free, and Apple will be transitioning MobileMe users this fall. If you choose not to transition, you will have until June 30, 2012 to transition yourself. Why would you want to wait? You’ll see in Apple’s FAQs that three main MobileMe services will not make the cut: iWeb Publishing, Gallery, and iDisk.
We’re looking forward to iCloud’s debut this fall! Head on over to our Facebook page to join our poll by answering what your favorite iCloud feature is. While you’re there, “Like” us to be notified of other fun stuff in the future!
A good amount of our business is done on the road. Whether we’re between cross-town projects, or in dark attics we need to have an Internet connection to use many our our tools. For example, we use many of 37signals.com‘s products, as well as Onsip.com for our phone service (both highly-recommended), which all require an Internet connection.
Until recently, we’ve relied on Clear’s 4G service. For the most part, we loved it. It’s fast, and has decent coverage around ATL, albeit not as good as our AT&T iPhones. We decided last month to try the new Personal Hotspot feature from AT&T to see how it compares. Keep in mind the Personal Hotspot feature requires the iPhone 4, not any of the previous iPhones.
We just cancelled our Clear accounts today and I’ll tell you why:
Of course, your city may vary on connectivity, and your iPhone plan may not be just like ours, so I’d call AT&T to get your specific rundown (Dial 611 from your AT&T iPhone). One downside to “upgrading” to the Personal Hotspot service is that we lost our unlimited data plan. We’re now capped at 4GB per month per user. It turns out, I was only using about 1GB/month on average on my iPhone, and I’ve yet to get near the new 4GB limit. (Your online AT&T account can show your monthly data usage on a graph.)
What are you currently using? Do you like it? We’d love to know.
This question is one of the most frequently asked by our friends and clients, and with good reason. Since the “dark ages” of the Macintosh, much of the hesitation of making the Switch is due to the uncertainty of compatibility.
Thankfully a lot has changed since the mid-90s, and I think you’ll be surprised at how few applications you’ll need to buy for the Mac. I’ll outline the applications that most people end up purchasing in order to continue using the same files from the PC. I’ll also list applications that come free on the Mac.
You might consider purchasing these:
Now that list wasn’t too bad, was it? For other tasks like email, Internet browsing and pictures, here’s a list of Windows programs that have free alternatives on the Mac, and are what make the Mac “so easy to use”.
If you have specific needs that weren’t outlined above, feel free to leave them in the comments. For some specific industries that require Windows-only software, you can always run a virtualization application like Parallels. Virtualization has come a long way since its inception, running Windows on your Mac is easier than ever.
What other applications did you need to purchase before making the Switch?
Although I do about 90% of my iPad tasks with the ten styli God gave me, sometimes using a stylus is the perfect tool for drawing out ideas, or taking scratch notes. Unfortunately, even after using the highest rated styli like the Pogo and Targus Stylus I’ve been left dissatisfied. The main reason: using the stylus on a touchscreen doesn’t feel natural, and I’m always tempted to rest my palm on the screen… which doesn’t work on a touch screen device.
Instead of explaining the Cosmonaut, I’ll just let you watch their video. They began as a Kickstarter project, which was hugely successful, and they will begin manufacturing their idea this summer. If you didn’t help fund their Kickstarter project, you’ll need to sign up for email notifications to find out when it will go on sale to the public.
I’m looking forward to receiving mine next month. Do you have a stylus you love? Let us know below!
It’s humbling when a client of yours shows you something new about a platform you teach, isn’t it?
We helped Connie Carlson a Realtor in Cobb County, GA, dive into Daylite a few months ago to help her manage client history, leads, and sales opportunities. She returned the favor by letting us in on this “hidden” feature in Daylite. Daylite is a tool we often recommend, and at one point every Daylite user can probably benefit from this tip.
It turns out, Daylite can export a contact list into CSV format. You’d think a CSV export would be an obvious feature, but it’s almost hidden, unless you do the following steps. For a video walkthrough, see Marketcircle’s tutorial. Jump toward the middle of the clip for the feature we’re writing about.
We’ve also listed the quick list of steps below:
1) In the Contacts, select the contacts you wish to export. (Create a Smart List to filter your contacts.)
2) Switch to column view using the view buttons at the top of the list.
3) Choose which data you’d like to export by clicking the blue triangle in the top-right corner of the list.
4) Drag the columns desired to the “Active Columns” section of the dialogue. (The “Email” column is actually labeled “Electronic” in Daylite.)
5) Go to File -> Export -> “Export Visible Columns and Selected Rows to File”.
6) Depending on your end goal, choose the export options accordingly. For most applications, all you need to change is the format from “Tab-Delimited” to “CSV”.
Now you’re ready to send your contact information to your email service platform or virtually any Mac or PC database application.
Have questions? Let us know below!
It’s that time again where MacUpdate bundles together several popular Mac software titles and sells them at an insanely low price. In this particular bundle they’re packaging the following titles for $49.99:
Parallels 6 is a must have if you’re running Windows on your Mac, and 1Password is by far the coolest app I’ve used on the Mac in the past several years. It’s an indispensable part of my everyday computer use. If you need just one or two of these, the bundle is well worth it. You better hurry up though, you only have 2 days left! Head on over to MacUpdate to read more about each title and purchase the bundle.
Ideas are cheap and plentiful. The original pitch idea is such a small part of a business that it’s almost negligible. The real question is how well you execute.
- REWORK page 38
While people love Apple because of the simplicity and refinement they place into their products, it doesn’t mean you have necessarily live and breath the Apple culture like those “Apple Kool-Aid drinkers” do 24/7. To give you an example, here are few of our opinions that might shock you, especially coming from a member of the Apple Consultants Network:
We love Macs, iPads, and iPhones because they help us run our business more efficiently. We get to do our work, and not fuss with IT. However, Apple isn’t the only good software maker out there, and we’re happy to use tools that others have made. After all, there are (a couple) things Redmond has done well.
