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Apple outgrows PC industry 4.5 years straight

1 Comment / Computers, News / By /

At the Apple Special Media Event this past week, the Apple slogan was “Back to the Mac”.

We found out that the Mac makes up 33% of Apple’s revenue stream which is equal to $22B. If Apple spun the Mac division off, the Mac division would instantly rank as a Fortune 110 company. Last year, Apple sold 13.7M units which is three times as many as in FY 2005 with an install base now just shy of 50M users.

Additionally, year over year growth has standard PC growth around 11% while Apple is growing at 2.5x the market rate at 27% growth and the Mac has outperformed the PC for the past 18 quarters straight (4.5 years). Apple is on a roll as their stock price demonstrates.

Finally, developers have are coming to Apple as there are 600k registered developers releasing titles including Afterlife, AutoCad and Office 11 with Outlook. Game developers have finally started to come back to the Mac platform after nearly disappearing in the 90s.

There are 318 Apple stores in 11 countries (and the Beijing and other China stores are the busiest) with 75M visitors. 2.8M Macs are sold in the stores and about 50% of the Macs sold are to consumers NEW to the Mac.

EyeTV Hybrid – TV Tuner for your PC/Mac. Pause and Record Live TV

1 Comment / Audio/Video, Home Theater, Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By /

eyeTV hybridSure, it may look like only a USB Thumb Drive, but the EyeTV Hybrid is a TV tuner stick for either PC or Mac. That means it can let you watch over-the-air TV (both analog and digital) on your computer.

It also acts as a DVR, letting you pause and record live television (including HD TV). It can also capture video from a VCR or set-top box (like cable/satellite TV boxes).

Additionally, it comes with software for editing and managing your recorded content, as well as an IR remote control and a 1-yr subscription to TV Guide.

Buy now!
Price: $134.95
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Lockheed Martin makes self-contained PC on a USB Thumb Drive

Computers, Portable, Software / By /

In what seems like a strange jump for a defense contractor, Lockheed Martin just introduced IronClad, a complete PC on a USB flash drive. IronClad contains all of the operating system, applications and user data in the 8GB stick made in conjunction with storage vendor, IronKey.

lockheed martin ironclad

The entire stick is encrypted with 256-bit encryption and there’s anti-virus protection for when you plug into unknown computers to run your ‘stick laptop’. The technology to run the OS from the stick was developed by LM.

Makes it sooo much easier to lose your ‘laptop’ now doesn’t it?!

Laplink Everywhere 5 – remote access software

1 Comment / Computers, Networking & Internet, Software / By /

Like GoToMyPC and LogMeIn, Laplink Everywhere offers folks the ability to gain access to their PCs at home remotely. Apart from standard browser-based access, Laplink Everywhere 5 also comes with a free application for Win Mobile users to access their desktops at home.

Other interesting features include: desktop control, file transfer and synchronization, Outlook access and access to Web bookmarks.

You can try out LLE5 free for 30 days after which it falls back to the limited version. Upgrade to the full version for $49.95/year.

Buy now!
Price: $49.95/year
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

DeLorme’s Topo USA 8.0 – GPS mapping application

Gizmo of the Day, GPS / By /

Version 8.0 of DeLorme’s Topo USA brings new features such as streamlined map-to-GPS transfers, paperless geocaching, new road detail for Canada and Mexico, and improved in-vehicle GPS navigation with laptop PCs. If you’re not aware of what Topo USA gives you, it’s a software application for PCs that can be used by itself or with Delorme GPS units.

Topo USA gives you terrain, trails and of course road details. You can explore 3D maps, map your routes, find points of interest, customize and print maps. And of course, push this data to your GPS unit for offline use.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $71.31
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

PCs vs Macs – is the ‘war’ back on? So says this poster

Computers, Miscellaneous / By /

Artist Reece Ward has re-imagined the ‘war’ between Macs and PCs as a poster promoting a prizefight. Can’t say I agree. Macs have more in common with PCs than they ever did, and we’re practically at the point where PC really does stand for Personal Computer, what with most Macs, Win32 and Linux boxes running on PC architecture, in particular Intel-compatible x86 chips.

Either way, it’s a nice piece of popart. You can buy either a poster or a T-shirt with the image on it.

Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse Review

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Reviews / By /

Apple’s Mighty Mouse may match my keyboard and 24″ iMac in the context of design, but the Mighty Mouse simply does not match the quality of the iMac. After a year and a half, I have finally decided to drop the Mighty Mouse from my desk (literally) and switch to another mouse.

The Mighty Mouse has a design flaw, even though it was “Designed by Apple in California” where the mouse ball gets dirty. Instead of the mouse ball touching the surface of the desk, the ball rotates under your finger. When the mouse gets dirty, the best you can do is disconnect the mouse from the wireless Bluetooth link and clean in one of two ways. First you can follow Apple’s official KB article or you can turn the mouse upside down and rub really hard in all directions and hope the dirt comes out. The official way never worked for me and the second way use to work at least for a couple of weeks. I finally gave up and could no longer scroll side to side or up and down until I was sufficiently angry enough to purchase a new mouse.

In comes the Logitech V470 Cordless Laser Mouse. I decided to try this mouse because it’s a cool blue color, uses Bluetooth, ability to scroll up and down as well as sideways and uses laser technology. This is meant to be a notebook mouse, but even with my huge hands (you heard that right ladies… huge hands!) I decided to give the mouse a try. If I like the mouse enough, I’ll use it with the laptop too.

When I first got the mouse I thought the mouse was indeed blue and a bit small. Since I’ve been using it I haven’t noticed that the mouse is blue or small, just that I again have the ability to scroll horizontally and vertically! My hand fits nicely over the mouse, the buttons are easy to use and the scroll wheel works perfectly fine.

To scroll horizontally, you simply push the scroll wheel left or right until the wheel clicks. While horizontal scrolling is not as elegant as the Mighty Mouse, it works. I find that I typically use the keyboard and key shortcuts to get around the computer, except for scrolling… this fact makes the Logitech V470 Bluetooth Cordless Laser Mouse MUCH better for me to use than the Mighty Mouse. I definitely recommend the mouse for whatever computer you have provided you have Bluetooth. You’d be amazed at the clutter than disappears when you move to a cordless mouse and the accuracy you’ll gain moving from a mouse ball or optical mouse to laser technology.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer
Price: $40.94
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge
at the time of posting)

Nero LiquidTV – TiVo for your PC

Miscellaneous / By /

Nero and TiVo have teamed up to create Nero LiquidTV which is software version of TiVo that runs on your PC. LiquidTV has most of the same features as a regular TiVo box plus some additional ones that you can only get on a PC. Not only can you watch shows that you recorded on your PC on your PC, but also on your TV in your home network as well. HD recording is included and you can also burn your shows to DVD or transfer to portable devices like your iPod or PSP.

Of course, you’ll need a subscription to TiVo to get the guide info. LiquidTV will be available in about 2 weeks. It will come in 2 versions: 1 is just the software that you can download for $99, and there’s also a retail package that includes a WinTV-HVR-950Q TV tuner card from Hauppauge.

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