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Elgato EyeTV on Your iPhone – at Home and on the Road

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Author: OWC Michael

iphone_rightElgato has released the EyeTV app for iPhone and iPod touch, available starting today on the App Store.

With the EyeTV app, you can watch, record, and enjoy live and recorded TV on your iPhone or iPod touch. At last, you don‘t have to leave all your great TV shows at home; the EyeTV app puts the power of award-winning EyeTV in the palm of your hand.

The EyeTV app accesses EyeTV running on your Mac at home to deliver these great features to your iPhone:

  • Watch live TV and change channels anywhere (Wi-Fi connection required)
  • Watch your EyeTV recordings
  • Browse the comprehensive Program Guide
  • Start recordings back home on your Mac immediately or schedule them for later
  • View and edit your recording schedules

The EyeTV running on your Mac converts live TV to the correct format for streaming to the iPhone, ensuring optimal picture quality. With the EyeTV app, EyeTV users can watch live TV and recordings on an iPhone and browse the detailed program guide. They can also use the iPhone to start recording TV shows back home on a Mac immediately, or to schedule them to record later. The EyeTV app connects to any Mac running the latest version of Elgato’s award-winning TV software, EyeTV 3.2, and can automatically find a Mac on the local network using Bonjour. The EyeTV app can also find and access a remote Mac via “My EyeTV”, a free locator utility introduced today as part of EyeTV 3.2.

EyeTV is available from the iTunes Store at a price of $4.99

We’ve certainly been impressed with their products, and for information and insight on their hardware, be sure to check out this blog post on the hybrid model and this one on the Turbo.264 HD!

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Category: Misc.

A Month in the Snow.

Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Author: OWC Chris S.

Desk-Calendar-07A month ago today, Apple released OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Coincidentally, my MacBook Pro arrived right around that same time. I took advantage of having a “pristine” system and installed Snow Leopard on it immediately.

Looking back on the last month, things went surprisingly well. One by one, I added new apps and utilities to my system, making sure to check their compatibility as I went. Fortunately, most of the programs I use every day were already 10.6-compatible. My only major losses were iStat Menus and iSync compatibility with my Palm Centro. Luckily, iStat was updated soon after the 10.6 release, and I’ve got some good leads for Palm compatibility, so I’m 99% good to go.

Sure, even a month in, there are some mild annoyances – I lost the use of the full drivers for my home printer. Sure, the Gutenprint drivers work, but they just aren’t the same. I haven’t even tried scanning anything, but I’m relatively certain that it will be an exercise in futility. However, as both the printer and the scanner are 7-8 years old, I really can’t complain a whole lot – they have far outlasted my expectations for $20 at a garage sale.

As far as “whiz-bang” new features, there really weren’t any, though adjustments to things like Image Capture, Exposé, Time Machine, QuickTime, drive and file size reporting and a number of other things were welcome changes.  While, normally, simply tweaking the system for better performance/compatibility might be considered as a “service pack,” what the Snow Leopard naysayers seemed to have missed in calling it that is the whole shift in the system’s focus.

This is the first “Intel Only” version of OS X. It cut out a lot of the older, bloated PPC code, resulting in a much smaller installation. On top of that, they’ve added easier implementation of support for multi-processor apps as well making the system 64-bit capable on hardware that supports it. While this may not be all that useful at the present time it certainly opens the door for things becoming faster as applications are rewritten to take advantage of this technology.

So what is all this saying?

Effectively, what I’m saying here is that, despite a few hiccups at the beginning, Snow Leopard is certainly heading in the right direction. There are a few missing pieces here and there, but nothing that I found to be insurmountable. Further updates, both on Apple’s part and those of software developers, will continue to improve the experience.

A month into the process, I’d say that unless you either have a machine that won’t support it or you rely on one of the applications not yet supported, it is an upgrade well worth your time and money.

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Category: Product Spotlight, Random Thoughts & Topics
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Make Your New Mac “Better Than New” With FireWire 400 Connectivity

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | Author: OWC Grant

We talk so much about speed, performance, and OWC in this blog that I just had to give some love to one of the exclusive brands we carry….Newer Technology, Inc. Also referred to as fw800400NewerTech, this long time Mac industry manufacturer (trivia buffs: who introduced the first memory upgrades for the Mac?)  is known today for unique consumer friendly/average user solutions that focus on product design and functionality. Case in point is today’s introduction of the NewerTech FireWire 800-400 Adapter.

What this handy little accessory solves is the quandary many of you face after buying one of the newest Mac Pro, MacBook Pro 17″, Mac mini, or iMac models….“great, with FireWire 800 only support, how do I use my existing FireWire 400 devices?” Additionally, this adapter eliminates the hassle of determining which cable type and length to buy.

With this adapter, you can now Plug and Play connect your scanner, printer, memory card reader, external drive, digital camera, iPod and other FireWire 400 devices to the latest Macs quickly and economically. Just plug the adapter into your computer’s FireWire 800 port via the 9-pin male FireWire 800 connector end. Then, just connect any standard 6-pin male FireWire 400 cable to the 6-pin female FireWire 400 connector end.

Now if all that pin and numbering stuff sounds too techie, remember how I mentioned above that NewerTech really takes into consideration the average user experience? Well, there’s even Flash based sequence on the product page that shows just how easy this adapter is to use!

Creating (and showing how to use) an accessory that maximizes your past and present technology investment? Man, nothing “average” about that and in my book, a pretty high performance commitment to thoroughness…and to NewerTech’s slogan of “Newer Is Better Than New”.

One Comment
Category: New @ OWC, Product Spotlight

Discharging Static Electricity for Safe Computer Upgrading

Thursday, September 24th, 2009 | Author: OWC Michael

GlobemanfriedSo often we are asked in reference to our OWC Instructional Series of Videos, “How exactly am I supposed to ‘Use proper anti-static precautions when performing this upgrade’?” The real answer is…it depends.  There are actually several different ways, depending on your situation, that you can help to control static electricity in order to avoid damaging the electronically delicate components found inside your computer.

According to Wikipedia: Static electricity refers to the buildup of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. And it’s that discharge that can ‘zap’ or ‘fry’ your computer components, rendering them inoperable.

To give you an idea of how little static electricity needs to be generated to cause harm to your computer components, it takes as little as 5 to 10 volts to cause damage inside your computer.  In order for you to even feel the presence of  static electricity, the level needs to be above 1,500 volts.   You can accumulate an average of 10,000 to 12,000 volts just walking across carpeting.  Rubbing a balloon on dry fur (or hair) generates about 20,000 volts. Did you know the average person can carry up to 25,000 volts of static energy at any given time? So discharging any built up energy before you begin is important.

So, how are we to be safe when working in our precious machines? Article Continues…

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Category: Tech Tips
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The iPhone Battery Blues

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 | Author: OWC Chris S.

iPhone-Battery-DrainI think that it is safe to say that the iPhone is fairly popular. It seems that as of late you can’t look at any gadget/tech blog without some mention of it. The App Store offers a myriad of programs, games and utilities, and there are all sorts of third party accessories available.

Even for those Mac users that don’t have an iPhone (like myself) this is a good thing, as it seriously contributes to Apple’s bottom line, which means more money in the coffers for Macintosh R&D as well iTunes/iPhone/iPod.

Unfortunately, with wild popularity comes increased scrutiny. As a result, when something goes wrong with the iPhone, there is often a large backlash.

Just this sort of thing has happened with the recent release of iPhone OS 3.1. It seems that many users are experiencing rapid discharging of the battery since updating.

In perusing Apple’s support forums, there are a number of threads, like this one, detailing the woes of those who have installed iPhone OS 3.1 on their iPhones only to experience rapid discharging of the battery. Even after turning off some of the noted battery-draining processes, such as wi-fi, bluetooth, and push notifications, people have been experiencing a reduction in battery life.

In some cases, it seems attached to a corrupt file or application in the iPhone. In these instances, restoring the iPhone and creating a new profile (rather than importing old information) seemed to resolve the issue. Unfortunately for many others, even after performing this procedure, the problem still remains.

Apparently, though, Apple has responded to the issue and has distributed a small battery tracking application, along with a short list of troubleshooting questions, to many posters on the above-mentioned thread.

Judging by the wide range of this problem and Apple’s response, is is very likely that we will soon see another update to iPhone OS that will resolve this issue. Until that time, though, iPhone users are left to deal with the problem themselves.

Fortunately, OWC is here to help. While we can’t fix the underlying problem —that’s Apple’s domain— we’ve at least got a temporary solution for your power problems: extended battery packs.

The most form-fitting option is the Energizer Energi To Go AP iPhone Charger, which integrates a protective sleeve with either a 1000 mAh or 1500 mAh battery for extra time between chargings.

For a less specific option, there are the Macally JBox mini and the Cellboost iRecharge. Both these items allow you to simply attach to your iPhone via its USB cable and charge it that way. While not nearly as slick an option as the Energi To Go, these items have the added benefit that they can be used with any device that can be charged via USB.

For more information on the iPhone OS and Software updates, check Apple’s iPhone Support center.

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Category: Product Spotlight, Tech Tips
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A Closer Look at Hitachi’s new 2.0TB 7200RPM DeskStar 7K2000 Serial ATA Hard Drive

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 | Author: OWC Michael

Hitachi_2TB_HardDisk_Deskstar_7K2000As mentioned in my post from Friday, we received stock of Hitachi’s new 2.0TB 7200RPM DeskStar 7K2000 Serial ATA Hard Drive. By popular demand, we tested the three drives mentioned in that post internally in a Mac Pro to show just how much of a difference rotational speed can make when not limited to the ever-popular FW800 interface.

We benchmarked all three of these drives using the QuickBench TM 4.0 Extended Test. This test measures the drive’s ability to sustain large amounts of data (measuring between 20MB and 100MB) transferred to and from your computer.  But then measured speeds using two hi-definition tests AJA System Test and BlackMagic Disk Speed Test.

Article Continues…

One Comment
Category: Benchmarking/Performance, Product Spotlight

Snow Leopard easier to swallow than just a “Service Pack”

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 | Author: OWC James

sl-tongueI’m a recent Mac convert and loving every minute of it. Do I feel ashamed for ignoring the Windows-based units that are now collecting dust at home? A little bit, but thankfully the guilt is short-term.

I’ve been having a great time reading comments from Mac users about their experiences with Snow Leopard. It’s even more interesting to hear all the chatter about Apple’s first OS update 10.6.1, made available less than two weeks after releasing Snow Leopard. Some users have called the OS release “pointless” due to the lack of new features. Others, wanting to keep their OS up-to-date, have willingly embraced the update.

What’s in the update?

Apple suggests that users update to 10.6.1 because it offers “general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.” The update itself fixes a Mail issue, includes a more recent version of the Flash plug-in for Safari and provides device updates for modems, printers and DVD drives. For more details, see the full summary of 10.6.1 fixes from Apple.

Newbie says what?

I’m a glass-half-full guy and tend to focus more on positive benefits. Although some users have criticized this release as a knee-jerk reaction by Apple to offset product launch shortcomings, I personally think is sends a clear message that they take security seriously.

Generally speaking, it appears that a number of users are reporting improved performance and bug fixes after applying the update. The good news is that if you are running newer software it is unlikely that you will experience compatibility issues since most applications that work on Mac OS X 10.5 will also work in 10.6. It’s important to note that not every program has been tested and in some cases it’s up to the user to determine which applications still work. For example, Adobe decided to test Creative Suite 4 for compatibility on Snow Leopard without any mention of supporting CS3. What’s a CS3 user to do? Some are running CS3 on 10.6 without any issues; others are frustrated while teetering between waiting for a fix or upgrading to CS4.

When it comes to discussing hardware and software support under a new OS, I feel it’s all about shared liability – if the OS includes radical changes, some programs will not work or may require an update. If the developers do not test their software with the new platform or offer an alternative solution, they risk alienating loyal users.

It’s been at least a month since I’ve booted up a Windows machine at home and I am certain that there are countless updates, security patches, service packs and bug fixes are waiting for me. The decision to install the single point revision to SL seems easy compared to my previous life of daily Windows updates.

I’m also a marketing guy and understand Apple’s desire to release Snow Leopard early to meet customer demands. At some point you have to release what you have to the masses in order to address real-world application issues and improve the overall user experience.

The 10.6.1 update may not address every issue that has been logged, but it’s a quick step in the right direction. If you are having a problem and don’t find it resolved with this release, be sure to let Apple know via Apple’s feedback page for Mac OS X.

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Category: Product Spotlight, Random Thoughts & Topics
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RAID for the rest of us. The adventures of Little Johnny.

Monday, September 21st, 2009 | Author: OWC Michael

JohnnyBoardBreaking it down to its simplest forms, there are two main reasons to add a RAID setup to your computer system. Performance and Redundancy.

Let’s break these down individually:

Little Johnny was acting up in class and his teacher made him sit in the hallway while all the other kids went to recess. If he could finish writing “I will not put frogs in the teacher’s desk ever again” 100 times on paper before the rest of his classmates came back to class, little Johnny would be able to join them in the playground. Article Continues…

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Category: Tech Tips
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