Category Archives: Helpful How To

iCloud: More Cloud, Less Me and You Can Do That?

Posted on by
Reply

I am sitting in the local Fuddruckers setting up for the monthly Boise Mac User Group meeting when the waitress delivers my chocolate shake. She asks if we were the “Apple” people. I respond yes. She presents me with her iPhone asking why a photo she tried to upload to Facebook keeps presenting her with an error message.

Being “Apple” people I begin to troubleshoot. My first thought is to close down the Facebook App and start over. It is here I discovered running on this iPhone were close to 50 applications. I ask if she had ever closed out of an Application. The response, “you can do that?”

This is a common response to this question. So when Apple made all of the new announcements this past WWDC 2011, I wondered for whom the announcements were attended. Better yet, how many end users will understand 1/10th of the changes heading their way this fall with the release of iCloud and iOS 5?


More Cloud

On June 6, 2011 Apple presented iCloud to the world, declaring it a replacement for MobileMe, admitting it was “not our finest hour”. Apple developers were treated to a list of new features amongst them were iTunes in the Cloud and Photo Stream.

With iTunes in the Cloud users can access each and every song purchased from iTunes for free. For an extra $24.99 annually, users were provided Music Match. Using an iOS 5 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2, or a Mac computer with OS X Lion or a PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 Apple will provide a Music Match subscriber access to songs not purchased via iTunes in 256k quality. The service itself limits a subscriber to 25,000 songs, but iTunes purchases do not count against the limit.

Missing from the service was an iCloud player to compete with Amazon Cloud player and Google Music Beta, both providing Android Apps to play music. However, with the release of iCloud coming in the fall Apple has plenty of time to make changes. In the meantime Apple updated both iOS and OS iTunes applications to allow the push of purchases to all devices. It should be pointed out this does require the user to activate the feature within iTunes, something maybe my Fuddruckers waitress won’t know she can do.

Photo stream is another new/change feature. Photo Stream holds your last 1000 photos, with the option to create albums. All the photos coming through Photo Stream are kept on your PC or Mac. This makes a ton of sense considering my recent purchase of a new iMac with 2TB of storage along with an external hard drive making me very happy.

Essentially Photo Stream replaces MobileMe Gallery, well sort of. I am not sure how Apple will provide users to share their photo with family and friends as they do currently. One thought I have is with the use of Facebook and Flickr, Apple may have simply given up on this service. The keynote addressed the number of photos taken by an iOS device currently Flickr’s service, which is an admission that Galleries is not that popular.

Remains of the Day

iCloud will continue to store your contacts, bookmarks, email, calendar and documents. It will just do it in a different way. It will cost the user nothing. Additionally, iCloud will backup items and iTunes will allow you to download your purchased apps and music a not additional charge. The user will also receive 5GB of storage.

Are these iCloud features going to better than the current free services offered by the likes of Google, Yahoo or Microsoft? With Gmail I get 10GB of storage. I can set up Google Drive for my documents and of course can set up contacts and calendars. Nothing to big hear but it is enough of change MobileMe subscribers will notice, but is it enough to bring new customers?  With no ads, please sign me up for some new accounts.

Less Me

Lost in the announcement regarding moving from MobileMe to iCloud was what will happen to iDisk, iWeb and the price for extra (if any) storage. Currently for my $99 I am given 20GB of online storage for my email, bookmarks, iCal, file uploads and web space.

As mentioned before iCloud will be free with 5GB of storage. There was no mention of some useful features such as iWeb website hosting. This past Monday came word from Steve Job’s iPhone that indeed iWeb was going away based on the emailed question. I would point out that Steve said “Yep” to the number of questions. Users of iWeb can upload their site via FTP to a web host, but it comes with a cost of another service, however considering the cost of hosting to a MobileMe yearly subscription one could save.

The other useful information not mentioned was the possibility of additional storage. I would be surprised if come this fall that Apple isn’t selling additional iCloud storage. How could they sell stockholders on the idea that “we stopped selling MobileMe for $99 a year to offer its main features and then some for free?” I suspect that Apple will find a way to continue collecting the $99, while also collecting even more from iCloud.

Add iOS 5 to the Mix

Getting back to my waitress from Fuddruckers. Adding iCloud to the mix with iOS 5 may on the outside appear very simple to those in attendance and us Apple Fan Boys and Girls. I do wonder what this means to the typical “I only have an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad” user.

Listening to my list of Podcasts this week leads me to get excited about the announcements, but at the same time think wow did Apple complicate things? There are enough changes in iOS 5 that will cause a lot of users eyes to become glazed over. There is an interesting article from MacRumor that over 50% of iPhone users visiting the Genius Bar have never connected their device to a computer. There is the PC free idea for iOS 5 combined with iCloud connecting to a PC isn’t needed, but if you think about the fact that people weren’t smart enough to connect to a PC to begin with, what else will the not do?  It is clear to me the new features are aimed at the Fuddruckers’ waitress to make things easier. However, I am sure you will continue to hear “you can do that?”

OWC’s Publicity Like Stunt Regarding iMac Hard Drive Upgrades

Posted on by
2

In my opinion Other World Computing is making a mountain out of a mole hill regarding upgrading an iMac hard drive and here is why.

  • Opening the case voids your warranty unless performed by a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and with Apple’s consent**.
  • A new drive would not be covered by AppleCare.
  • As an interested third party OWC will stand to lose sales as a result of this issue.
  • I have purchased a new iMac and have AppleCare on the machine and will likely sell it before the warranty expires, meaning any time the iMac needs to be fixed it will go to Apple each and every time.
  • Thunderbolt, FireWire 800, 4 USB ports. All of these allow for external drives to be connected if space becomes limited.
  • The largest consumer drive I could find online is 3TB at New Egg, with the lowest price of $139.99. Note OWC did not have an internal drive of that size listed on its website. You can upgrade to a 2TB drive upon order via the Apple Store Website for $150.00.

There is no denying OWC claim that Apple changed things up just enough to thwart 3rd parties from upgrading the drive on the new early 2011 iMacs. Though I would love to be able to upgrade my iMac myself I learned back in 2006 when I purchased my first Mac that I now was at the mercy of Apple for repairs and upgrades. In 5 years since I have owned 2 iMacs and have never had them in for repair and have come accustomed to living with this model of repair and upgrade. I use external drives for my iPhoto, iMovie and iTunes content, with back ups of all content.

OWC has been outspoken in the past few days regarding this issue. They have every right to do so. I also believe that they may be fighting a battle that based on the above is seemingly pointless and in the end feels more like a publicity stunt.

**This warranty does not apply: (a) to consumable parts, such as batteries, unless damage has occurred due to a defect in materials or workmanship; (b) to cosmetic damage, including but not limited to scratches, dents and broken plastic on ports; (c) to damage caused by use with non-Apple products; (d) to damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, liquid contact, fire, earthquake or other external causes; (e) to damage caused by operating the product outside the permitted or intended uses described by Apple; (f) to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”); (g) to a product or part that has been modified to alter functionality or capability without the written permission of Apple; (h) to defects caused by normal wear and tear or otherwise due to the normal aging of the product or (i) if any Apple serial number has been removed or defaced.

Setup MobileMe Alias on your iPhone

Posted on by
2

A few weeks back my I completed a restore on my iPhone 3GS. In doing so I restored it to the factory default, which results in a loss of installed apps, music, email and other defaults. As a result the ability to choose from a list of MobileMe aliases was lost.

I am not sure why this was the case. My web search resulted in little information that was useful in getting this “feature” back. Short of restoring my iPhone from the last known backup, I was now without the ability to use aliases within MobileMe account setup on my iPhone. In my searches I discovered a work around that in the end I found to be not only a fix but also a better way of managing aliases.

I also discovered after implementing the change I didn’t have to fumble around to make sure the email was originating from the correct alias account.  This of course being the main reason I set up the alias in the first place.

The steps to set up a separate MobileMe alias on an iPhone are quite easy.

Step 1: Go To Settings on your iOS device and choose Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Step 2: Select Add Account…

Step 3: Select “Other”

Step 4: Enter the alias account information in the “Address” and “Password” Fields

Step 5: Select “IMAP” and enter in the alias MobileMe account address and password. This is needed to get MobileMe to respond correctly to the alias.

In the “Incoming Server” area type in mail.me.com for the Host Name, followed by your main MobileMe Username and Password.

In the outgoing server enter smtp.mail.com in the host field, followed by your main MobileMe Username and Password.

The iOS device will now ask you to turn Mail and Notes on or off. Since you have come this far I suggest leaving Mail on, while leaving Notes on or off is up to you. After few moments your MobileMe alias will be up and running. No more choosing which email address you to reply with, now you can open any email and know it is coming from the alias you want it to.

Boise Town Square Mall iPad 2 Launch Experience

Posted on by
Reply

I participated in my first Apple product launch on March 11th, 2011.  The day began with me at work as normal, but I left at noon and headed down to the Boise Town Square Mall (BTSM) Apple Store iPad 2 launch.  A family member had been waiting in line since about 9:30AM.  She was 7th in line and I was in 8th in line.  I later found out that the BTSM opened at 5:30AM for mall walkers.  Two gentleman arrived within minutes around 6:30.

 

The line started to grow as the day progressed. At around 2:00PM the line had grown from 18 to 40 people. I walked around the way to notice that people had moved mall furniture up against the wall for a comfy spot to wait. I started to poll people on which capacity and color they were looking to pick up. Many said black, but I was surprised at the number of those that were looking to pick the new white model.

The day progressed and I carried on many conversations with those standing in line with me. As the time drew closer to launch we began to yell out how many hours were left until launch. At 2:00PM mall security informed us that if it happened again we would be escorted out of the mall. We informed the manager of the store what had been told to us and he was visibly upset and began to have a lengthy “discussion” with the security team assigned to the event. We were later informed that we could yell and get as excited as we pleased as Apple was in charge of the event and was allowed to have said events.

Right about 3:00PM the Apple Store began to close in preparation for the event. Many people continued to walk by asking what was going on and why was the store closing. One individual had traveled a great distance and was visibly upset the store was closed and proceeded to argue with the Apple Employee chosen to handle questions.  The individual stated that the store was being unreasonable in not allowing her to purchase the device considering the great distance driven to purchase. For the record it was an iPod Nano, available most anywhere, which was the advice given to by the Apple Employee.

As 5:00PM approached the store employees began to ask us which model we were looking to purchase and how many. They went through the line and comments I overheard were that the white model is in limited supply and there were no guaranties.  We received a ticket after giving out our choice and that choice was entered in to what could be described as an inventory application on an iPod Touch.

The anticipation began to build.  We were asked to remove our chairs and other items as the area that was being referred to as the “staging area” for each waive of customers.  The manager once again graced us with his presence carrying on conversation with us first 18 in line.  The big moment finally arrived and the some 300 people in line began to crank up the volume.

After 4 and half hours I was welcomed into the store to purchase my 32GB and 64GB White iPad 2 WiFi models. I had the Apple employee setup my iPad 2, as I wanted to ensure that it indeed was in working order before I had left. After all I didn’t want to get home after standing in line and not have the thing power up.

My observation from the launch was that Apple went out of its way to create buzz for a product that didn’t need much hype. Apple went out of its way to make those of us in line comfortable by offering coffee, tea, and water, while also receiving a black blanket for our troubles. The other mall stores were offering us in line many different discounts on iPad related items. In the end I walked out of the store with what I came for and had a great time doing so and yes it was worth the wait.