Mac OS X Lion – Coming Summer 2011

April 12, 2011 · Brandon Hann

Apple may have done it again! From the looks of the list below, we might have the best version of OS X yet. If you enjoy the functionality of your iPhone and/or iPad, you’re going to love some of the new features of OS X Lion. Take a look below and I promise you you’ll be as excited as I am.

This time around, Apple has taken what people love about iOS and put them into OS X. I’m still hoping that one day, OS X will make its way to the iPad and who knows, maybe this is the first step toward that dream! OS X features things like the Mac App Store, Launchpad, Mission Control and AirDrop. If you’re starting to feel like you’re about to take off into space, welcome to the club! So without further ado, let’s launch this thing! (I couldn’t resist the lame pun.)

Mac OS X Lion Features

At its core, the new OS will look very similar to previous incarnations; it’s what’s under the hood that may or may not get you excited. Today, computers seem to be all about the apps and the experience partly because of the huge success of today’s smartphones. People just want things fast and readily available at all times. OS X Lion delivers the convenience and ease-of-use that will rival that of any computer system you can buy today.

Mac App Store

Although you can already download this app, the new App Store for Mac works just like the one for iPhone and iPad. You can now buy full software programs without having to head to the store. No more fiddling with discs or worrying that a store my be out of stock. Simply buy the app, download it and get to work.

Launchpad

This is the one that makes your Mac look like an iPad. With one click of this app in the dock, your screen is transformed into the desktop equivalent of iPad showcasing all of your apps in one (or more) screens. I dare you to open it up and not be tempted to start swiping your screen!

Full-screen apps

Take your apps to the max! No longer will you be forced to stare at the top menu bar or the dock at the bottom. You can now open your apps to the full width of your monitor. I’m not sure if having a full screen app will make you more functional, but it’s nice to know you have the option. Personally, I like having the clock in front of me so I can see how much time I’m wasting online.

Mission Control

Mission Control is like Dashboard, but on crack. It allows you to pull down all of your running apps right on the screen so you can see everything that’s running on your computer. From there, you can click anything you want to re-open and you’re instantly there. What’s cool about this is that all of the windows you have open are sorted by group, so if you had 4 Safari windows and two Word documents open, you’d see two groups and each of the windows showing up inside.

Auto Save

This might be a God-send for some of you out there! I know for me, it’s going to take the headache out of creating documents. Imaging you’re pushing the battery limits on your Macbook and you’ve already completed 10 pages of your school report when all of a sudden, your battery dies! Damn. Well with Auto Save, all of your troubles are over. What’s really cool is it actually saves the current document which means it doesn’t create any copies, thus saving disk space. And if you accidentally save the wrong changes, you can always revert back to a previous version; see next feature.

Versions

For those that use TimeMachine, you’ll be very familiar with this feature. It basically keeps track of every change you’ve made to a document allowing you to revert back to a previous version whenever you need to. When you open a document, OS X Lion will save a version of it and then continue to save versions every hour automatically.

Resume

This is one of my favorites. Let’s say you have a bunch of windows open and you are prompted with some new updates. You’re just itching to get them installed, but then you’re greeted with a message stating that you’ll have to restart your computer. Now you have to go in and save all your documents and close everything while losing all your places online, etc, etc. Not anymore! Resume allows to restart your Mac and it comes right back on to exactly where you left off. The resume feature also works when closing and opening apps.

Mail 5

If there’s mail program that could get me to switch from Outlook, Mail 5 just might be the one! I’ve used Outlook for many years because of its vast amount of features and I was never really a fan of Mail, but the new Mail 5 offers the a conversations feature that brings up emails similar in fashion to how iPhone deals with text messages.

AirDrop

For those of us who get our Mac friends together on the weekend so we can talk about how cool our Macs are…(silence)…we can now send and receive files just by opening an app! AirDrop will automatically locate and connect with other Mac users (locally) that also have AirDrop running so you can send files without having to pull out USB drives or burned discs.

My two cents

I’m super excited about this release! Given the above features and I’m sure a whole lot more that we haven’t seen yet, I know this will be the perfect mix between the functionality of a full Mac with the ease and simplicity of an iPad. I was never a big fan of the iOS software being used on anything bigger than a phone mainly because it lacks any type of file system and it makes doing some advanced work near impossible, but Apple seems to have gotten this one right.

Of course, only time will tell if they did.

MacBook Air (2011) vs iPad 2 vs MacBook Pro

April 11, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

Back in November, I discussed the comparison between the MacBook Air (2010), the iPad and the MacBook Pro in terms on functionality, performance and convenience so it’s only fitting that I now update this to include the new(er) MacBook Pro and the iPad 2. Unfortunately, the MacBook Air hasn’t seen any improvements or upgrades since the new aluminum design debuted in 2010, but it still holds up.

This article also comes on the heels of the iPad 2 release. I currently own an iPad and just like I’ve done with every iPhone model, I contemplated selling it and purchasing the new one, but this time, I can’t seem to justify it. In fact, I’m on the verge of selling my iPad (again). Since we last talked about this, my plan was to:

Sell my current desktop PC
Sell my iPad
Sell my MacBook
Buy a Mac Mini to replace my desktop
Buy a MacBook Air (11-inch) to replace my MacBook and iPad
Keep my iPhone 4 as my extremely portable device

This is funny because it originally called for selling my iPad, but I still own it! I never follow my own advice. Anyway, let’s explore the new and upgraded devices and see what my new plan will be…as if this time will be any different. 😉

MacBook Air (2011 model)

I know I’m calling it a ‘2011 model”, but in reality, nothing has changed. There’s no word on any major Air upgrades coming down the line, but we can probably rely on the standard performance upgrades that usually occur between major updates to features or design. Apple always seems to lose focus on one or more products while they’re honed in on a new one. I think right now, it’s iPad 2 and iPhone 5. MacBook Air is currently on the backburner. At any rate, here are the models again:

2011 MacBook Air models

As you can see, you still only have 2 major differences…an 11-inch screen and a 13-inch screen. After you decide what size you want, you only have two other choices to make: how big you want your hard drive to be and how much video memory you require.

iPad 2

Just as I described the 1st iPad, the second is still just an over-sized iPhone. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, as you might imagine, when you want to perform more specific tasks like file manipulation or writing a document, you’re going to be out of luck. The iPad is and always will be an item of convenience. It’s great to have around when you want to read the daily news, play a few games, do some email and of course web browsing, but it is no computer…not by a long shot!

On my current 1st gen iPad, I really thought I was getting somewhere when I bought the wireless keyboard in addition to the USB and SD card adapters, but I was always irritated that there was no file system. I was hoping that the iPad was going to be close to ripping an LCD screen off a MacBook and turning it into a keyboard-less computer with touch capabilities. But no, you just get iOS.

Anyway, as for the iPad 2 itself, I loved it. I don’t own one and I don’t foresee myself getting one, but I have played with a friend’s and have used it many times in the store. The thing you’ll notice first about it is how light it is. Granted, the first iPad wasn’t heavy, but you can instantly feel the difference. This is important for those of you that plan on carrying this thing around everywhere. It actually weighs less than a 3-ring binder (depending on how much paper you have in it).

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Lightweight and small…very portable
Touch screen is as fluid as iPhone
Built-in 3G service (AT&T only)
Available for both AT&T and Verizon
10-hour battery
Dual cameras
Dual-core A5 processor

Cons:

iOS software – not a real OS compared to a MacBook
Somewhat bulky
No USB
No SD card slot

One other complaint I have is that the new Smart Covers from Apple, which are awesome, only cover the front of the iPad leaving the back to potentially get scratched.

MacBook Pro

Apple MacBook aluminum unibody (2008)

My MacBook is so old now, it came out when you could actually get a MacBook and a MacBook Pro in the aluminum design! Today, they are all Pros and the regular MacBook has been resigned to the old plastic design. The MacBook Pros today have a fairly different set of features than before, so I’m thinking of trading up. Here are some of the specs:

LED backlit screens with option antiglare widescreen technology
Thunderbolt port – up to 10Gbps for digital video output
Up to 750Gb hard drive (SATA) or up to 512Gb (SSD)
Up to 8Gb DDR3 memory
Faster dual-core processors (2.7GHz max)
New Quad-core (on 15-inch and up – 2.2 GHz max)

These computers are beefy! You can view the full comparison between MacBook Pros on Apple.com.

After upgrading my own MacBook to its max, I have found that I don’t even use my desktop computer anymore. There was a time when I thought about purchasing a Mac Mini to account for this loss, but there’s no need when I can just plug my MacBook into my 40-inch tv and go to work. I remember when I bought my MacBook, I explicitly got the 13-inch screen because I wanted the most portable laptop you could get, but now I wish I had gotten the 17-inch so it could stay on my desk while I use a MacBook Air for my portable machine.

Conclusion

These three devices are, in some ways comparable and not in others, but that’s what makes them such a great team! They tend to complement each other with varying results and when you mix them with any smartphone (or iPhone especially), you’ll achieve the most well-rounded tech setup you can get. This is where most people get stumped. You start asking yourself, “Do I really need this?” or “Is this thing going to really benefit me?” It also doesn’t help when your friends already think you buy Apple products just to be cool!

The results come down to functionality, performance and convenience. For me, the decision was hard, but I believe my new tech setup will consist of the following:

Sell my iPad
Keep my MacBook
Buy an 11-inch MacBook Air
Have no desktop computer

The idea behind this is simple. Like I said, I can always use my tv as a monitor, so there’s no need to upgrade to a larger MacBook at this time. I also don’t use my iPad enough to justify it sitting on my desk (although it does look really cool) and the MacBook Air would serve as my portable device where originally my iPad would fill in. I know it’s strange to think that a 13-inch MacBook isn’t considered portable anymore, but when you blog as much as I do, it becomes tedious carrying that thing around to various places.

Lastly, I’m still waiting for 3G capabilities to be added to the MacBook Air!

UPDATE (May 4, 2011) – There’s new competition to the MacBook Air! Samsung has released the Series 9 laptop that rivals the Air in almost every way.

My New Blog Site

April 8, 2011 · Brandon Hann

This is my super short Friday post!

Due to the popularity of Ledfrog.com, I’ve started going back into my super old blog posts to remember what kinds of things I used to write about and I was surprised at some of the stuff I found! Initially, the plan for this site wasn’t completely laid out and as a result, the site became a collection of informational articles mixed with personal-life ramblings that most people wouldn’t care to know about.

Now that traffic has increased dramatically on Ledfrog.com, it made sense to narrow the focus down a bit, which meant I needed to remove all of the unrelated items.

Brandon.me

I sure am making great use of the DOTme domain space! This is the second one I own and I find that when dealing with personal blogs or websites, it really sums everything quite nicely. On this new site, you can expect the same quality you’re used to here, but much different content. Whereas Ledfrog.com is all about unbiased opinions, reviews and news about various topics, Brandon.me (formerly Ledfrog.me) is all about what I have going on in my life that I feel like sharing with the world.

I make no promises that the content will be exciting or that it will bring any value to your life, but that’s ok because a personal blog is supposed to be fun and slightly entertaining! I also make no promises as to the frequency of my updates. I find that rigid deadlines and content controls are not made for personal blogs. It should be good enough to just wake up one morning with an urge to write about something and then do it.

Social Networking

I decided not to create second Twitter or Facebook accounts at this time, so you’ll still see posts from all of my sites under my current accounts. The reason for this simply comes down to time. I don’t pretend to be some famous Internet celebrity nor do I think I’m so cool that everyone should follow me, so the fact remains—I don’t wish to spend time separating every little detail of each site on to multiple networking sites.

If you want to stay connected to me and all my sites, all you have to do is become my Facebook friend, follow me on Twitter and if you use RSS readers, subscribe to Ledfrog.com and Brandon.me.

I hope everyone enjoys the new site! Have a fun a safe weekend. I’ll be back promptly at 9am on Monday morning!

Websites are stealing my content! What should I do?!

April 7, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

Often, bloggers are faced with the harsh reality that at some point, their website’s content is going to be copied (or stolen) by one or more websites. Not only can this hurt you emotionally, given the amount of time you probably spent writing a quality piece, but it can severely hurt your website as a whole. As anyone with basic web knowledge knows, search engine ranking is the game of the day. Without a good rank, your site is considered dead.

Why?

The reasons behind why other webmasters steal content can vary from person to person, but generally, these are the top three:

Domain rank – Whether you knew it or not, the words used to make up your domain name are considered in your search ranking. An example of this is if you write a blog all about your favorite comic books, but your domain doesn’t mention anything about comics at all. This can cause another site, like myfavoritecomics.com to be ranked higher even if they’re content isn’t that great. How this translates into stealing content is simple: a webmaster goes and finds a domain name that better describes your content and then copies everything you have onto their new site. If they get their way, they will soon outrank you.
Autoblogging – This practice is more common than not. If a webmaster wanted to create a new site relatively fast and begin competing for search rank, all they would need to do is start an autoblogging service that scours the web looking for content based on keywords they input and off they go. Your content is copied and placed on their new site. I strongly discourage using these practices because they don’t enhance the web experience in any way, but if you’d like to read more about autoblogging, you should do so at your own risk!
Higher search rank – Naturally, the main reason for stealing content is to increase your web presence, however they’re doing so at your expense. If you operate a site that only gets crawled once a day and another site gets crawled every hour, then it becomes very possible for the other site to steal your content before Google even knows you had it. At this point, Google now ranks the other site higher and your site looks like the copycat!

So what can you do about this? The short answer is nothing much. The laws of the Internet (and computers in general) dictate that any content found online can be copied and everyone can access it. It’s the inherent downside to such a cool piece of technology. However, all is not lost! Your goal should be to protect your content as much as possible and one major way to do this is to update your site frequently. If you become one of those sites that gets crawled every hour, then you won’t have to worry about looking like a copycat.

Reporting illegal activities

In case you didn’t know, Google offers a way in which you can report content thieves and other spammers. Here are some tips on how to do that:

Remove content from Google – Use Google’s own form available at google.com/dmca.html to file a report against any content you find online that may be violating your copyright(s). With this tool, you can also report unlawful content and defamation/libel content.
Visit Dmca.com – Dmca.com provides services regarding all sorts of copyright infringements including watermarking photos and filing takedown requests for serious violators. These services aren’t free, but if you’re providing very valuable information, you should consider how valuable it is in regards to your Google standings.
Contact violators – The old fashioned way of confronting your attacker! I’ve had luck with contacting webmasters directly and asking them to take down copyright-infringed content and surprisingly had more luck with them actually removing content. This approach can help new webmasters understand the “laws of the land” as well as give them a sporting chance to better themselves.

Running a website can be hard and some of us put a lot of our free time into our publications. There’s nothing more dis-heartening than finding out that someone else may be reaping benefits from something you created. I now know how musicians feel as they watch all of their music being freely distributed throughout the world!

More information

Review the provisions outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to become more proficient in dealing with copyright claims. You should also out everyone who uses the Internet by filing reports against spam-filled websites. Google doesn’t want junk sites in their indexes, so let’s all help them out by getting them removed!

You can also view my copyright information regarding this site to help you with creating your own set of rules for visitors who use your site.

Apple iPhone 5 Rumors

April 6, 2011February 1, 2016 · Brandon Hann

As with everything Apple, the rumors are already abound regarding a 5th generation iPhone. What will it look like? What new features will it have and most importantly, do I really need another iPhone?

It seems that every time a new iPhone comes out, we quietly tell ourselves that this will be the last one we’re going to buy…because it has everything we need. And then a few months before release date, the blogs are on fire about the all new design and features. That’s when the excitement overtakes you and before you know it, you’re trolling around every website you can find trying to scoop up just one more piece of new information.

iPhone 5 News

The blogs are already here! I found the first one by typing “iphone 5” into Google and it looks like www.iphone5newsblog.com is claiming to be the first site dedicated to the iPhone 5. The fact is that there is no actual news yet…just rumors.

As with other tech sites online, I plan to follow this product into oblivion like I’ve done with previous models to bring you the latest as it comes. And just like in the past, I’m sure I’ll have a week or two of discussions simply about iPhone 5 and nothing more!

The Rumors

Let’s get to the good stuff. I’ve rounded up some of the latest rumors about the new phone. Please remember, these are just rumors. Actually, it might be closer to a wishlist than anything else.

Larger screen – If only they added a phone feature to the iPad…then we’d have a larger screen! Actually, it’s very possible that the screen could reach a 4-inch size to compete with the latest Droid phones.
iPhone on T-Mobile – After AT&T announced they are buying T-Mobile for $39 million, it came as no surprise that T-Mobile customers were excited that this would enable them to get iPhone for the first time…legally. There’s no word whether T-Mobile will still operate as an independent company.
Faster processor – While it would be cool if they went with a dual-core processor, Apple might opt for a new A5 chip instead. This would likely be due to battery life.
Higher resolution – Just when you thought the screen couldn’t get any better, it just might! Dare I say a 3D iPhone?! How crazy would that be? I mean it might look cool to be using apps and placing phone calls in a 3D environment, but how funny would you look to people on the street?
Thinner and lighter – Of course this could be expected given the overhauls they’ve done to the iPad and the MacBook Air. How thin and light could they go if they plan to make the screen larger?
4G service – I can’t imagine Apple releasing their next phone without 4G capabilities, so we can *hopefully* assume this one is true!

More Information

Stay tuned to this site for more information as it comes. I’ll be blogging more and more as news is delivered and you can expect to stay informed by accessing www.ledfrog.com/iPhone.

Lastly, I found an interesting website that created this really cool mockup of the presumed iPhone 5 features. I’m re-posting the image here, but to see the original source, please check out NowhereElse.fr.

UPDATE April 20, 2011 – Reuters seems to have confirmed that iPhone 5 will likely ship in September. It would also seem as though the new phone will be more of a slight update rather than a whole new device. If this is true, we can expect a similar transition like we saw between the 3G and the 3GS. According to the article, it’s possible that the processor will be the only thing upgraded.

Who is John Chow?

April 5, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

I’ll start off by saying I don’t know John Chow personally, nor have I ever met him or even communicated with him via email or any other means.

With that said, I’m writing this article because I wanted to explore what I do know about him, his website and the throngs of followers he’s amassed over the years. I also have to say that if it wasn’t for John Chow, I probably wouldn’t have done much with this website. However, take that statement with a grain of salt! I’m not here to promote his services or tout how great he is and blah blah blah.

What I am saying is that when I got into this whole blogging thing, I wasn’t sure what direction I was headed, so after doing some searches, I found his website, JohnChow.com to be rather helpful. He sort of inspired me with his little video about how great life was–being able to blog online and not have a day job–in which he could then take his daughter out for walks in the park with nobody around because they were “all at work”. Normally, I don’t buy into such claims because while I do understand it’s possible to live a comfortable life doing hardly any work (that’s subjective by the way), I understand that it usually takes a LOT of work to get there. Whether John Chow’s video is he reality or not is not the point. The point is that I knew it could be done and I wanted to get there…for real.

JohnChow.com

His site title says, “I Make Money Online By Telling Other People How To Make Money Online”. If you read that and you’re instantly brough back to the days (or late, late nights) when you used to listen to Don Lapre talk about how he made $50k a week by putting “tiny little ads” in newspapers from his “one-bedroom apartment”, then we’re on the same page!

We’ve all seen the late night infomercials touting all sorts of plans and ideas of how to make lots of money in short time and/or without much work, but have you ever really investigated these ideas? What are they really selling you? I mean, I could say to you that I have a super secret plan to make $20,000 a day and I’m only going to charge you $1000 for me to tell you the secret. You get all excited, pay me the money and then I tell you the secret is to move to Hollywood, become and actor and land yourself a sitcom making $20,000 per episode. But is that really a secret? More importantly, did your thousand dollars really help you at all?

Now I’m not calling John Chow a scam artist, but I am trying to illustrate one thing: to make money, you have to work hard. What’s interesting about how John Chow operates is that his website is setup to perform 3 main functions (in this order):

Present a newsletter – No matter where you look on his site, you’ll find a place to sign up to his newsletter. In reality, what he’s doing is collecting email addresses. I’ve personally signed up for the newsletter once and instantly realized that everything being sent was talking about nothing more than how to make money online and the different ways to do it.
Sell a product – He’s not selling any actual products, but rather a multitude of things like ebooks, money-making videos, guides, self-help tutorials and other related digital items at various times on his site.
Keep you coming back – This is where the previous two functions come into play. The more you come back to see the latest offers, the more likely you are to purchase something and trust me, these offers are enticing!

The Offers

The first thing you’ll notice about John Chow’s offers is that they are very similar to everyone else who offers an online product. This brings me to the one problem I have with his site; all these offers do is regurgitate the exact same content, tips and advice as every other site out there that promises you to make money online!

As an example, 90% of these “special” videos all claim you can make thousands of dollars a month by joining affiliate programs and purchasing Google AdWords to help drive traffic to some squeeze page that sells a product about how to sign up for affiliate programs and buy Google AdWords to help drive traffic…you can see where I’m going with this. It becomes a vicious circle.

By the way, the products you’re selling to people are aimed at affiliate/Internet marketers just like you, so all you’re really doing is flooding your own market with new competition! That’s like your local 7-Eleven only selling their products to other liquor stores who are then selling to more liquor stores and so on. In time, your city is flooded with too many sources where you can buy the exact same products. Any basic knowledge of economics would tell you that this setup will eventually collapse.

I like to think of these sites as nothing more than pyramid schemes poised to earn untold amounts of profit for the person/website at the top while the bottom support earns crumbs.

How to really make money online

Of course, you can make money online using all of the available tips and tricks on the Internet, including sites like JohnChow.com, but the reality is that you have to be good enough to beat out all the competition…or just get really lucky.

I’ve been able to make money online from my own network of websites because I provide fresh, original content and people recognize me for that. I don’t take one person’s program, put a spin on it and then mask it off as my own. I don’t partake in shady practices in regards to Google search rankings. I don’t accept payments as bribes from people wishing to be named in a blog post.

I’m not accusing anyone of doing these aforementioned practices, but we all know that some people do. My advice is that if you want to make money online today and a long time from now, stay focused on your vision, provide something valuable to the Internet and keep it real. You’d be surprised just how fast your website will start making money.

If along the way, you can add some extra income using affiliate marketing, then by all means, do it! All I’m saying is that you will not become a millionaire overnight and it takes hard work and dedication to run a profitable website.

So the next time you’re on a site like JohnChow.com, get as much free information as you can, but be weary of purchasing a money-making program.

Apple iPad 2 is Here – Launch Day Craziness

March 11, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

Apple is very well-known for its launch days with people standing in long lines days before the “big day”, people fighting over who was there first and just general anger when people find out the store sold out of their desired item. Of course, the iPad 2 is no different.

While it did seem like a much quieter day compared to those crazy iPhone 4 days when everyone decided they wanted one after the world got to see the new model leaked early, it wasn’t without it’s interesting events. One such event places college student, Amanda Foote at the Apple store in New York. She was the first person in line after getting there on Wednesday night, but she wasn’t waiting for an iPad. According to her story (see video below), she heard about people selling spots in line in the past, so she decided to try her luck at such a feat. Apparently it paid off since she earned a cool $900 for her place. Considering she got there at 5pm on Wednesday and the store probably opened at 10am today, that means she was there for 41 hours–that’s almost $22 an hour–not bad for sleeping in the rain.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIZtBMUVT1g

Long Lines

I can’t imagine waiting in a line like this! I mean, how far do you start walking back before you wonder exactly how many iPads can this tiny store actually hold? Also, is it somewhat of a better experience to wait in a physical line rather then ordering online at home?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUbiuLIxArU

Oh wait, I get it…you want everyone to see you walk out of the mall holding the fresh new box so they can drool with envy.

Backorders

Although Apple never tells you the truth, you can always get an estimate of how low their stock levels are by ordering from Apple.com. I just looked and sure enough, we have our first delayed shipping message: “Ships in 2-3 weeks”.

Maybe they should have done some pre-orders.

Is it worth the Hype?

After seeing and hearing all about how great the iPad 2 is and then verifying this belief by watching the videos above and reading the news in the next days about how many records have been broken for iPad sales, it’s not hard to fall into the same category as everyone else–that which forces you to own all of the latest technology you can get your hands on.

But, is it really worth it? Given that the majority of those iPads sold today will just end on eBay to all of the last-minute buyers who must now fork over 20-60% markups just so they don’t have to wait for Apple to replenish, you start to wonder if the iPad 2 is even worth all the hype. I don’t think it is. I already compared the iPad 2 to the iPad 1 and have made my judgment on selling my old one and not getting the new one, but that isn’t because I don’t like it. It’s simply because I don’t use it as much as I thought I was.

My only advice is to think about why you want to buy and what you plan to use it for before simply getting it because it’s shiny and new.

Apple iPad 2 – Coming March 11, 2011

March 7, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

Apple is well known for its snazzy, sleek product designs that have fan-boys (and girls) lining up at retail stores world-wide on product launch days. However, the rest of the crowd (those who are not interested in the latest “iProduct”) generally sees Apple’s product designs as nothing more than an industry slight–one that does a phenomenal job of covering up outdated system hardware.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Apple’s latest products aren’t up to par with other related tech products. I just think they really believe the road to success is the old KISS method…keep it simple stupid. When the first iPhone came out, as well as every model since, tech gurus and Apple-haters have been complaining about low-quality cameras, slow processor speed, lack of memory, crashing apps, overheating issues, antenna problems and everything else under the Sun. They relentlessly compared them to every other smart phone on the market and in almost every case, the iPhone favored negatively. Meanwhile, while this tech war was being waged, one indisputable reality was taking place…millions of people were still buying iPhones.

iPad 2

And now we’ve come to this–the iPad 2. This week, Apple will start selling the 2nd incarnation of its famed tablet PC that everyone loved to hate. Once again, we have an Apple product that has met with some very harsh criticisms and comparisons to competing products–and still, once again, Apple has prevailed. While consumers were trying to find uses for the iPad, competitors were trying to beat it and iPad 1 did all but destroy e-readers such as Amazon’s Kindle or Barnes and Noble’s Nook along with a host of other tablet PCs. Apple must be doing something right.

Quick Comparison:

	iPad	iPad 2

Base Price	$399 (originally $499)	$499

Colors	Black	Black or White

Dimensions	9.56 x 7.47 x 0.5 inches	9.5 x 7.31 x 0.34 inches
Weight	1.5-1.6 pounds	1.33-1.35 pounds

Storage	16GB/32GB/64GB	16GB/32GB/64GB

Connections	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional AT&T 3G	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional AT&T 3G or Verizon 3G

Screen	9.7-inch 1024×768	9.7-inch 1024×768

Processor	1GHz A4	1GHz dual-core A5

Battery	Up to 10 hours	Up to 10 hours

Cameras	None	720p rear, VGA front

Sensors	Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor	Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, 3-axis gyro

Location	Wi-Fi, Compass, Optional GPS (3G version)	Wi-Fi, Compass, Optional GPS (3G versions)

As you can see, not much has changed. Of course “not much” is a subjective statement seeing as how someone might feel like the addition of two cameras is actually worth the upgrade. Personally, if I sold my current iPad and got the iPad 2, it would be for two reasons only: 1. I can get Verizon 3G service and 2. I can now get it in white.

The processor is likely the third biggest change for me. Although the first iPad was fast enough for what you would generally use it for, it’s nice to have an extra boost–all without degrading the battery life–or so we’ll see! About these cameras…I’m sure the front camera is the better one to have given the Skype® capabilities or maybe you’re hard up for updating your Facebook profile pic, but I don’t see much use for a rear camera. Chances are you’re already carrying a camera in your pocket anyway, so why would you want to hold a 9″ iPad up to your subject and snap a photo? Maybe for a quick eBay listing while you’re at the restaurant? Yeah, I can see that happening.

The Competition

The New York Times said today, “So Far Rivals Can’t Beat iPad’s Price”. When have you ever heard “rivals can’t beat […] price” when talking about Apple products?? Isn’t Apple supposed to be the most expensive ‘everything’ you can buy? On top of that, Apple outsiders will tell you that you’ve overpaid for a sub-par product: “If only you had bought (insert manufacturer name here), you could have saved money and had twice as much!” All I can say is, “Wow!”

At any rate, the Times went on to say that because of Apple’s deep pockets, they are able to save money by buying large amounts of parts up front for larger discounts as well as not having to pay licensing rights to chip makers due to Apple’s in-house chip manufacturing of the A4 and A5 processors. Plus, Apple has the App Store, which brings in more than a billion dollars each year–this alone can subsidize the cost of the iPad. All these factors can let Apple reduce their profit margin to say…25% instead of the usual 50% they pull in from iPhone.

Motorola Xoom
How does the Xoom stack up against the iPad 2?

	Xoom	iPad 2
Base Price	$799 (w/ 2-yr contract: $599)	$499

Colors	Black	Black or White

Dimensions	9.8 x 6.6 x 0.5 inches	9.5 x 7.31 x 0.34 inches
Weight	1.6 pounds	1.33-1.35 pounds

Storage	32GB internal (future support for 32GB SD cards)	16GB/32GB/64GB

Connections	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Verizon 3G (4G compatible)	Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional AT&T 3G or Verizon 3G

Screen	10.1-inch 1280×800 (HD 720p)	9.7-inch 1024×768

Processor	1GHz dual-core	1GHz dual-core A5

Battery	Up to 10 hours	Up to 10 hours

Cameras	5mp rear + Dual LED flash, 2mp front	720p rear, VGA front

Sensors	Accelerometer	Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, 3-axis gyro

Location	Wi-Fi, eCompass, aGPS (with Google maps)	Wi-Fi, Compass, Optional GPS (3G versions)

My two cents

While the Xoom has the iPad 2 beat in a few ways, it’s hard to justify the price. Even though you can upgrade the internal memory using a 32GB SD card, adding the cost of everything might just exceed the cost of the 64GB iPad. Here’s what you should consider:

Xoom has a bigger and better screen
Xoom has better cameras
Xoom has expandable memory (in the future)
Xoom will support 4G
Xoom has the Android app store
iPad 2 has a larger app Store
iPad 2 is much cheaper
iPad 2 comes in a wi-fi only model
iPad 2 looks cooler

I threw that last one in there to see if you were paying attention! The fact of the matter is that Apple has another winner here and it all comes down to this: If you already own an iPad, keep it. There’s not much to upgrade to. If you can’t find a valid use for an iPad or another tablet pc, then don’t buy any of them. If you’re on the fence, buy the iPad 2. You can’t beat the size of the App Store and the price.

Verizon iPhone Is Coming

January 12, 2011February 16, 2016 · Brandon Hann

I am certainly not reporting anything new, but as usual, I do have an opinion! There’s a new iPhone section of Verizon’s website and it appears that they’re going with a pretty outlandish tagline: iPhone 4. Verizon. It begins. I can’t tell if they’re simply just that excited about the phone coming to them (as well as the influx of new customers) or if they’re declaring an all-out war on AT&T, but either way, let’s hope all these claims of Verzion’s superiority over AT&T are true.

It’s no secret that AT&T has suffered some harsh criticism over the last 3 years due to the breakout device of the century. Looking back, we had a phone that was developed by a computer manufacturer in a time where RIM ruled the day with their Blackberrys, so lovingly called “Crackberrys” and nobody (even Apple) thought it was going to go anywhere. We all know what happened next.

iPhone on AT&T

We’ve had the chance to see how AT&T has handled the iPhone and to many, it’s been a disaster. From complaints about dropped calls, network crashes and static on phone calls to pre-order disasters, iPhone 4 antenna issues (this was Apple’s fault) and the loss of the unlimited data plan, AT&T has built themselves quite the reputation. It’s no wonder why many people have opted to move to Verizon and pick up some kind of Droid phone.

In the wake of every major problem to hit AT&T, their response has been slow, inadequate or just downright lacking. Meanwhile, Verizon has been sitting in the back of the room just waiting semi-quietly for this day to come: the perfect combination of AT&T’s bad press and the end of the exclusivity contract. I say semi-quietly because none of us can forget the epic, and very public advertising battle between the two giants. AT&T says “There’s an app for that.” while Verizon touts, “There’s a map for that.”, in which they tried to tell everyone that AT&T has less network coverage than Verizon. The reality of that statement is that AT&T does have less 3G coverage, but overall, AT&T’s network is the same size, if not bigger than Verizon’s.

By far the biggest complaint among iPhone users on AT&T has been the data usage. iPhones are powerhouse, data guzzlers! When the phone first debuted in 2007, nobody had a device that could match it and AT&T was forcefully giving away unlimited data plans. What they weren’t prepared for was the increase in customers. Not only were more people jumping on the Apple bandwagon, but the phone allowed them to do so much more than anything else at the time. It was simply human nature at that point: if it’s there, why not use it. So what was AT&T’s answer? “We’re improving the network. Oh and by the way, we’re taking away the unlimted data plans.”

To add to all of that, AT&T has been able to maintain its exclusive contract between Apple that was hammered out in 2007, basically keeping the iPhone from being on any other network. Well, this contract is ending and now we’ll see how Big Red handles this wonder device.

iPhone on Verizon

Rumors that have been fluttering around the blogosphere for the last year or so have now been squashed. The iPhone is coming to Verizon on February 10th, 2011. and there’s no looking back! Many Verizon customers have had ‘iPhone envy’ for as long as they can remember—those customers not willing to jump ship to AT&T because they love their “more” reliable service so much. Who can blame them? With everything that I mentioned above plus all the bad press that AT&T has suffered the last 3 years, I’m amazed that I’m still an iPhone owner.

It’ll be interesting to see exactly what happens now that Droid phones have been able to gain some foothold in the industry. Will Verizon customers trade phones? Will AT&T customers pack their bags and head for Verizon-land? Will Blackberry finally meet its demise? Nobody can say for sure, but investors are already prepping. AT&T stocks have started to drop while Verizon’s have started to rise.

One other important note is that AT&T offered early upgrades to all existing iPhone users with the release of the iPhone 4. Of course many, many customers jumped at the chance to get the new phone, but failed (or didn’t care) to realize that they were being locked into 2 more years of AT&T’s service. This was no doubt AT&T’s last attempt to keep its iPhone customers alive and well.

The last major issue of concern is the well-known antenna issue–you know, the one where you couldn’t hold your phone without a bumper case? The question is whether Verizon will be getting the same, defective phone or if a re-design is in order. Time will tell, but these pictures sure point to good news.

New iPhone antenna "slits" — New iPhone antenna “slits”

Old iPhone antenna "slits" — Old iPhone antenna “slits”

For a closer view, check out Engadget’s article about the new iPhone casing design. The potential new design is somewhat of a concern due to the movement of the vibration switch and you know what that means!! That’s right, all new cases!!

My Two Cents

As if my opinions matters to you anyway…I’m sure you’ve already made up your mind about what you’re going to do. As for me, I’m locked in for just over one more year and after reviewing AT&T’s early termination fee schedule, I don’t think I’m going anywhere soon. Just in case you didn’t know what it is, if you own an iPhone, the cost is $325 minus $10 for every month you were in your contract. For me, that fee will be $225 if I jump over to Verizon in February.

My plan at this point is to wait for everyone else to jump ship and that should alleviate the network congestion. But that’s just hopeful thinking I guess and at least I’m not the only one who feels that way.

How To Hack The Facebook Image Bar

January 11, 2011 · Brandon Hann

Ok so you’re not really hacking anything, but I figured using that word would grab more attention! With that said, this trick is nothing more than an easy manipulation of a new feature in Facebook. First of all, you’ll need to upgrade your account to the new profile layout if you haven’t already done so. You can do this by going to: facebook.com/about/profile/. Login and you’ll see the option to switch.

Download sample Adobe Photoshop® template for modifying the Facebook image bar

The New Layout

Also on that page will be a complete description of what visual changes will be made to your profile, but the only one we’re interested in is the new “snapshot” feature. This is the very top section of your profile that tells people some basic information about yourself:

My Facebook Snapshot

Above, you can see the highlighted area. You can see what I call the Facebook image bar. It’s a collection of the last 5 photos that someone tagged you in. It puts them in order from left to right, meaning that all newly tagged photos will show up on the left side and move their way down the line.

Hacking (Manipulating) The Image Bar

As you can also see by the screenshot, I have hacked my image bar to show ledfrog.com whenever anyone clicks on my profile. Naturally, I wanted to draw their attention to my site and I was not surprised to find out that people see those images before anything else on my profile! From a marketing standpoint, this is great news.

The process is generally easy, but if you’re using some intricate design work or you’d like to integrate your default profile pic into the mix as well, it can get a bit complicated. For basic instructions, follow these steps:

Create an image that is 487 x 68px. (487px is counting the white spaces between each photo)
Cut out the five images from your main image. Each of the five need to be 91 x 68px in size.
Upload these five tiny images to your profile. It might be easier to create a separate photo album for them.
Tag yourself in the photos one at a time. If your image needs to line up in a specific order, like mine, you’ll want to tag the last photo first and the first photo last. This way, they’ll show up in the correct order.

That’s it! When you’re done, go back to your main profile page and you’ll see your handy work.

Advanced Manipulation

Obviously there’s some small space between the tagged images, so your photos won’t line up perfectly (like mine), but if you’re dead set on getting the images cut with the spaces in the proper places, you’ll want to cut out the white space on your original image and then take what’s left and turn them into 5 separate images. Make note that the white space is exactly 8px wide.

I created a layered Adobe Photoshop® template that you can use to see where the cutouts will fall if you plan on using a full image to create all the tiny ones. Please note that this template was designed and sized from my own Facebook page. Yours may differ slightly in size and alignment. Use this template as a guide rather than a standard.

Download sample Adobe Photoshop® template for modifying the Facebook image bar

It’s super easy to use:

Open the template in Adobe Photoshop®.
Take the image you’d like to slice and dice and place it on a layer behind the cutout layer.
Resize that image if necessary to fit into each of the 6 squares properly so it looks good.
Cutout each image and save them separately.
Upload all images to a new album (if preferred) on Facebook and make sure this album is visible to Everyone.
Tag yourself in each of the smaller photos, but remember to tag the last photo in the lineup first!
Take the 6th photo and make it your default picture and then you’re all set!

Here’s a sample of the template in use with a picture ready to be cutout:

Ledfrog.com Facebook Image Bar Template Sample

Issues

As you may have already guessed, the number one issue with doing this modification is that anyone who tags you in photos will be able to destroy your work of art! However, it’s not hard to fix. Just hover your mouse over the image(s) that you want to remove and a little ‘X’ will appear in the corner–click on that and the image will be removed from the top bar, but it will retain your tag.

You can also have a little fun with this too! You can tag your friends in your images and your hacked image will appear on their pages as well! Be careful though…if you start putting up derogatory things on your friend’s pages, you may not have any friends left. Worse case scenario, you could be hearing from the Facebook team if people start logging complaints about you.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you run a website, you are more than welcome to repost some of my steps above as well as the template download, however, I must ask that you retain credit to me by posting a link back to this article and leaving my website information inside the template. Also, please don’t hotlink the template file from my server! Upload it to your server instead.