Charanjit Chana

Macrumours posted an article about registrations for the 2009 Macworld event and rumours for the event. Among other things, a possible increase in iPhone capacity. From 16 to 32Gb will definitely be a nice jump, but at what cost?

Anyway, I don't really give a shit about that, the thing I care most about is the possibility of a new Mac Mini. Since the new MacBooks don't feature any Blu-ray drives, I doubt the Mac Mini will come with one, but it might serve as an otherwise very, very capable media server. The HDCP stuff on the new MacBooks is just plain annoying, but I'm not sure how this will effect a new Mac Mini which may, or may not, move away from the DVI interface used at present.

The Mac Mini was the first Mac I really got to get to grips with and another Mac Mini was my first Apple computer purchase. It's now over 2 years old but still in constant use at home.

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I put some time aside to watch the keynote from earlier this week where Apple unveiled their new line of laptops and a new cinema display.



As already stated by nearly every other commentary on the event, the announcements were not exactly surprising. Not they have been for quite a while now.

Anyway, the new MacBooks are beautiful. The all aluminium construction was heavily emphasised and impressive. The MacBooks transition to this new format was a great development, but the premium Apple have place on it will probably mean that the white version will probably be the biggest seller.

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Some research I was doing bought me across a few accelerometer based apps for the Mac. Unbeknown to me, there's actually an accelerometer built into the MacBook lineup, which is used to protect the hard drive in your notebook from falls by taking the heads away from the discs when a fall is detected.

A few people have developed apps that tap into this feature and few are as cool as the LiquidMac application which is able to detect the orientation of your MacBook.



I took a video screen capture of the application in full screen mode, above. I rotated my MacBook randomly, left and right. I have tried upside down, but that's just one trick too far for this app.

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I have been looking for an input device for sometime now. With Blu-ray now the 'winner' in the 'war', I've primarily looked for a Blu-ray device, but a few films that I want are still only available on HD DVD.

I suddenly remembered an email I sent out to friends which showed them an USB HD DVD drive for under £20. I didn't really take notice because I was so set looking for a Blu-ray drive, but once it hit me, I went on the hunt for that email.

The HD DVD drive in question is Microsoft's one for the XBox 360. It has a USB interface and, from my research, is a Toshiba drive. A few people have already hooked one up to their Macs and made some progress with it. I'm hopeful that the versions of Apple's DVD Player and VLC I have are both up to date and have some sort of support for playing HD DVDs as I ordered Batman Begins at the same time as I ordered the drive!



I do feel somewhat odd plugging a Microsoft branded product into my MacBook, but I had previously plugged a Mighty Mouse into a PC successfully, so I can only hope that this new pairing is half as good.

If worst comes to worst, I should be able to at least read the disk and rip the contents. Any DRM might be a problem, but again, I should be able to get around this. Once I have the content, VLC should be able to handle it in it's usual support everything way!

I am hopeful that even if neither player is able to handle the discs directly that an application will arrive for OS X soon. It would be far more convenient and I wouldn't mind putting my hands in my pockets to get it.

Since my MacBook has a DVI output, sound won't be transfered to my hi-def TV, so I'll need to figure out a new audio setup too, but for the £30 I paid for the drive, movie and delivery, I'm more than happy to use my MacBook's built in speakers for testing purposes with the intent to upgrade/sort out the setup at home.

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I have previously toyed with my MacBook's HD capabilities, but I struggled to find a way to wake my closed MacBook from sleep mode. My MacBook is often woken accidentally from sleep mode when I'm using Front Row on my mac Mini, so I knew it was possible, I just didn't know how to do it on purpose!

Having Googled my problem, I just couldn't find an answer, but then it hit me! Your MacBoook just has to be plugged into the mains. Once it's plugged in, awakening isn't a problem at all.



Being plugged into the mains and connecting to an external display means you can use Front Row with nothing more than your remote. This makes playing videos, movies, trailers, video podcasts and even DVDs very easy. You'll need an external keyboard and mouse to use it for any other reason (BBC iPlayer, YouTube etc...), but what better excuse is there for buying a wireless keyboard and mighty mouse!?

At the same time that I purchased my MacBook, I did some research and went for an Airport Express base station.

Now, through my wireless home network, I am able to log into my Mac Mini and read any file I like (application permitting) from the comfort of any chair in my house! It’s a wonderful luxury, and one that I am not likely to want to give up anytime soon.

However, there are instances when I actually need to be able to open or edit the files that I don't have applications for on my MacBook. I've deliberately kept my Macbook free of unnecessary clutter and have only installed the applications I know that I will use and need most. Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash files are all things I still have to edit on my (soon to be now upgraded) Mac Mini.

For big changes, this is fine. I have somewhere to go and do the work without having other distractions around me. For smaller ones though, this isn’t ideal… which is where a little experiment came into play.

I logged into my Mac Mini via my MacBook and went to the users’ portion of the hard drive and tried to select the applications folder. I wasn’t able to go into it, so I went back a few directories and selected the Macintosh HD drive. From here I was able to select the applications folder and easily browse its contents.

I simply searched for an app my MacBook was missing (Photoshop in this instance) and attempted to open it. To my surprise, Photoshop opened up and was ready within a few minutes. It definitely took longer to get going than it ever has on my Mac Mini, even prior to my RAM upgrade.

It's not something I'm planning to do often, or possibly ever again as every change I have to make seems to be a big one! I'm also not really sure how the license is affected, but it's an option I'm glad I have.

At the same time that I purchased my MacBook, I did some research and went for an Airport Express base station.



Now, through my wireless home network, I am able to log into my Mac Mini and read any file I like (application permitting) from the comfort of any chair in my house! It’s a wonderful luxury, and one that I am not likely to want to give up anytime soon.

However, there are instances when I actually need to be able to open or edit the files that I don't have applications for on my MacBook. I've deliberately kept my Macbook free of unnecessary clutter and have only installed the applications I know that I will use and need most. Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash files are all things I still have to edit on my (soon to be now upgraded) Mac Mini

[ read more... ]