News

12″ MacBook Air : What we know so far

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Although rumors of a next-generation MacBook Air with Retina Display have been floating around for about a year, Apple is yet to officially announce the product. And we might not have to wait long for the keynote since a recent report from MacRumors and DigiTimes indicates that one of Apple’s parts suppliers – Quanta Computer – has been steadily increasing their production of components for the upcoming MacBook. Quanta Computer has plans to hire 30,000 new workers in order to meet component demands set by the Cupertino tech giant.

Such increases in production of an unannounced product are almost always indicative that the product is ready for prime time. We’ll most likely see this new next-generation MacBook Air announced along with the official release of the Apple Watch in the first quarter of 2015.

Will it be visually different that the current models?

Most reports suggest that the new MacBook Air will sport a new 12” Retina Display, replacing the current 11” model. However this will not necessarily increase the dimensions of the product since it is rumored that the new ultra-portable computer will have a much smaller bezel around the screen, just like how the iPad Air is more compact than the 4th generation iPad with Retina Display.

We will most likely see a redesigned keyboard and trackpad as well. Currently all MacBook Air models have some space on each side of the keyboard which is expected to be drastically reduced in the new design. The trackpad has been rumored to become larger and lose its button mechanism, so you won’t be able to press it.

It is said that the MacBook will be incredibly slim, even to the point where many of the standard I/O ports will be dropped due to their size. We may even be looking at an MacBook Air with just two ports – an 3.5mm jack for audio output and a USB 3.0 Type-C port for charging and data transfer.

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USB Type-C Connection on MacBook Air

And for the first time on a MacBook Air we might get some color choices with the most likely being Silver, Gold and Space Gray. Since the next-generation MacBook Air with Retina Display has a similar size to the iPad Air 2, it is not hard to envision the laptop going through the same anodization process that is currently being used to give iPads their color.

What will we find under the hood?

The brain inside the next-generation notebook from Apple will be the delay-riddled Broadwell-Y Core M processor. The chipset is said to be high performance and extremely power efficient, which is the reason why we expect the upcoming 12” MacBook Air to have no fans for completely silent operation. As we’ve eluded to earlier, the new laptop will have a 12” Retina Display with a resolution of 2304 by 1440 pixels. Apart from that, we expect to see an improved Wi-Fi as well as the new faster PCIe-based flash storage.

How-To

How to fix no sound on iPad problems

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One of the most common issues with the iPad is the inability to hear any sound. Obviously this can affect the overall entertainment you’ll get from the device. Lucking if you here no sound on the iPad there are numerous things you can try to fix the issue before seeking help from Apple.

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Apple iPad Side Switch in Mute Position

 1. Check to see if the iPad is actually muted or not

Look on the side of your device for a small switch. This is actually called the “Side Switch.” If any orange color is showing then your iPad is being muted. Typically though this should only mute sounds such as notifications, alerts and sound effects. Move the switch up to the non-muted position just to be sure.

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Apple iPad Control Center – Volume Control

If you still have no sound, try adjusting the mute option through the system:

– To bring up the Control Center, double tap the Home Button
– Scroll to the right, If the mute button is highlighted (Showing a bell icon with a line through it), tap it to unhighlight it and un-mute.

Note: For people using iOS 7 or higher, you can make a swiping motion upward on the Home Screen to bring up the Control Center.

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Apple iPad Control Center – Mute Button

 2. Try the obvious, Turn up the volume

You’d be surprised at the amount of people that don’t even try this. If your iPad has no sound, you adjust this using the Control Center or the manual Volume Control on the side of the iPad.

3. Reboot, but first end all applications to be safe

– Double tap on the Home Button to bring up your currently running applications. Swipe up with your finger on each app to close.

– Now that all your apps are closed, hold down the power button and home button at the same time. If it prompts you to swipe in order to turn off your iPad simply follow the directions.

– Now that your iPad is turned off, turn it back on using the power button.

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iPad Settings – General – Reset

 4. Still no sound, Restore the iPad to factory settings

Warning: This will erase all the information on your iPad.

– First, connect your iPad to your computer and make a back up in iTunes.

– After you make a backup, go to the Settings menu on your iPad.

– Click General, scroll down to Reset.

– Click on Reset and when prompted the click through the warning messages.

Note: It’s recommended that you have your iPad connected to a power source when it’s restoring the factory settings.

5. Ok, that didn’t work now what

Here are some quick and simple things to check before you call Apple, or set up an appointment with the genius bar, if the sound on your iPad is still not working.

– If you are having sound problems with a specific application, delete that app and reinstall. Contact the owner of the application if you continue to have issues.

– There is a chance the issue could be with your headphones. Check your headphones in other devices to make sure they are working properly.

Leave a comment and describe your problem, was it fixed or are you still having issues?

News

Apple can learn from Xiaomi, the tech start-up and designers of Apple-inspired products

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Apple has navigated the waters of fierce competitors and copy cats for some time now. But one company has not been shy about mimicking designs created by Apple. Xiaomi, now valued at $46 Billion, has numerous products that look like or have taken some inspiration from Apple’s unique line of products. As you’ll see below this has been well documented.

Xiaomi Mi Router Mini vs. Apple Tv
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Xiaomi Mi Box
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Apple Tv
Xiaomi Mi Box vs. Apple Magic Trackpad
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Xiaomi Mi Router Mini
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Apple Magic Trackpad
One more thing…

It doesn’t stop there, other products such as Xiaomi’s Mi4 Phone has similarities with the Apple iPhone 5 and the Mi Pad is similar to the, you guessed it, iPad. Just to show you how blatant Xiaomi is with this, they even poked some fun at Apple during their recent event copying Apple’s iconic “one more thing” slide.

Xiaomi Mi TV vs. Apple???

Ok so what? Numerous new outlets have already reported the likeness between these two companies. The real genius when it comes to Xiaomi is that they are not waiting for Apple to come out with their next big idea, they are predicting and launching products most likely still being developed by Apple. On one had this is risky, Xiaomi could in fact launch a product and be severely out-matched by Apple. We’ve seen this before when everyone was expecting an Apple 4K display and boom they drop the bomb with a 5K display. But even Apple fans know that they are sometimes extremely slow to update and release new products. This has somewhat to do with their attention to detail and quality standards, all reasons why people love their products. But how long have we be hearing about an Apple high definition television?

Xiaomi is already there. Creating the latest generation TV with tons of features Apple is sure to take notice. The Xiaomi Mi TV is a 47”, 3D smart TV integrates both a quad-core Android game box and the Mi Box into a slim display.

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The Mi TV is a 1920 x 1080 HD television that integrates technology from both LG and Samsung. The gaming performance is impressive with no need for a Microsoft or Sony entertainment system, the TV comes complete with a controller. With 2G DDR3 dual channel memory and 8GB eMMC high speed flash memory, this TV makes viewing photos, surfing websites, playing games, listening to music and watching videos a breeze.

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Xiaomi’s risky decisions seem to have been paying off. Their start-up rivals that of Uber. But without knowing they may have given Apple some food for thought. It’s possible the copy cat could be the one being copied in the future. Now the ball is in Apple’s court. What can we expect from the tech giants now? Apple has tried the gaming market before and failed with Pippin. The real question is can Apple come up with new ideas faster and do then even need to? Let us know what you think about Apple and Xiaomi’s latest products by leaving a comment below.

Storage

Best LaCie Thunderbolt 2 external hard drives for Mac Professionals

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If you are a professional and use Mac hardware, chances are you know the name LaCie. Musicians, artists, techs and creative professionals all know that LaCie stands for quality. Storage technology is ever changing therefore LaCie is a good place to start because they are always on the cutting edge. Whatever you need they have a solution. This round-up of external hardware will give you and idea of the LaCie Thunderbolt 2 options available to you.

LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2

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Specs:

  • Professional speeds of up to 220 MB/s
  • USB 3.0 and dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for universal compatibility
  • Aluminum unibody for reduced noise and vibration
  • Boost speeds up to 1150 MB/s with d2 SSD Upgrade

The d2 LaCie drive is essentially the standard in the industry. Available in 3TB – 6TB ($299 – $499). If you need simple plug and play storage this is it. Since this is a single drive you’ll want to store a backup somewhere other than the d2 incase the hard drive fails. You could also buy two to be on the safe side, use one as your main drive and the other as a time machine backup. The drive is able to achieve speeds of 1150 MB/s but you would have to purchase the LaCie SSD upgrade.

LaCie d2 SSD Upgrade

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Specs:

  • Boost LaCie d2 Thunderbolt 2 speeds up to 1150 MB/s
  • Add 128 GB of SSD capacity
  • SSD speed, hard drive capacity in a single enclosure

Easy to install and boosts the speed of your d2 to be 6x faster than its standard speed of 220 MB/s. This is really a hybrid setup 128 GB of SSD + the size of the hard drive currently in your d2. You’ll need this speed if you are dealing with video or large file sizes. Pricey, but worth it if you need the speed ($299).

LaCie 2big Thunderbolt 2

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Specs:

  • Shocking speeds up to 420MB/s
  • Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for 4K workflows
  • Innovative design with RAID for reliability
  • USB 3.0 for PC and Mac compatibility

This is what many would consider the PRO standard because of the RAID technology. If you are new to RAID technology the easiest way to explain it would be that it’s a way to increase security of your files without sacrificing performance. The 2big comes with two hot swappable hard drives. What does that mean? Let’s say you had your 2big RAID set to mirror the data in drive 1 to drive 2. If drive 1 fails, you simply replace that drive and the data will automatically be restored from the good drive. Essentially making your data extremely difficult to lose. We all know that eventually hard drives fail, it’s just a matter of time, so having this setup can avoid a lot of heart ache. Available in 6TB, 8TB and 12TB ($599 – $999).

LaCie 5big Thunderbolt 2

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Specs:

  • Up to 1050MB/s speeds for 4K video editing
  • Hardware RAID 5/6 with hot swap
  • Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy chaining
  • Aluminum enclosure and whisper-quiet fan

This is the big daddy, the 5big is very similar to the 2big but with 5 drives and even faster speeds. This is not for your average user. The 5big is for someone who has large amounts of data, we’re talking 10 TB – 30 TB. Yes, thats TB for Terabyte (30 TB = 30,000 GB). If you work in the video industry and use 4K resolution, you could easily need this hardware. The drives are also hot swappable. RAID can be configured to your needs. The most expensive at ($1299 – $1999) but worth it for true professionals.

LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2

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Specs:

  • Up to 1375 MB/s speeds for 4K video editing
  • Dual Thunderbolt 2 ports for daisy chaining
  • Compact size for field-based creative workflows
  • Whisper-quiet dual cooling

This is a little LaCie drive that packs a powerful punch. Currently it’s only available in 1TB ($1299). It is RAID configurable and since it is a PCI based SSD, it is less prone to failure than your traditional hard drives. The main feature of this drive is speed, a blazing 1375 MB/s. It’s small and compact enough to travel with you if need be, but we wouldn’t say it’s designed for long term travel.

LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt

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Specs:

  • Thunderbolt speeds of up to 387 MB/s
  • USB 3.0 for universal connectivity
  • Bus powered for complete mobility
  • Shock, dust, and water resistant for all-terrain use

This is the only regular LaCie Thunderbolt model we are including in the round-up, although not as fast as the LaCie Thunderbolt 2 models it has advantages. The biggest advantage being size. This is a travel drive and resistant to a lot of nature’s forces. If you find you need a smaller drive and you want to be a little rough with it, this is for you. Picture rock climbing, camping, hiking or anything you could be doing that’s outside. Perfect for the office worker as well in case you are prone to dropping things. Prices on these will vary, because of that we recommend the 256GB-500GB SSD models for speed, but they also come in standard 1TB-2TB models.

 Bottom Line

First you should know the external drives above (other than the Rugged drive) do not come with a Thunderbolt cable. You’ll have to buy that separately, however they do typically come with a USB 3.0 cable. Most of the drives listed here offer Thunderbolt 2 support. LaCie is still currently selling drives without Thunderbolt 2 technology, the speeds are slower but so are the prices. As always we can’t suggest this enough, back-up your files, always have a fail safe plan when it comes to your data. Don’t buy a single LaCie drive and think all your storage problems are solved. Ask yourself, if I lost this data would it be ok? If your answer is no, then you need cloud storage, extra drives or a RAID configured system.

How-To

How to take a screenshot on Mac OS X

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How do I take a screenshot, is one of the first, if not the most common question asked by users on desktop and mobile devices alike. Taking a screenshot on Mac OS X is very similar to taking a screenshot on pc operating systems, only you have some more creative options. Take a look below at our simple quick guide, if you just simply need a reminder of the commands or continue reading for more detailed instructions. These commands are easy to use but there are also screen capture programs available in the App Store for more advance techniques such as capturing video and multiple still images.

Screenshot Quick Guide:

Captures the entire screen:

Command-Shift-3

Use the crosshair pointer to select a specific area:

Command-Shift-4

Captures a specific window or menu:

Command-Shift-4, Space Bar, Click

Captures to a clipboard instead of the desktop:

Command-Shift-Control-4

How to Screenshot:

In order to quickly capture your entire screen at full resolution use the following sequence. Once complete it will save the screenshot to your desktop in PNG format:

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command-shift-3

To capture your entire screen but save directly to the clipboard use the following combination of keys below. Once it is your clipboard you will have to paste (Control-V) the screenshot into the program or document of your choice.

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command-control-shift-3

To capture only a specific part of your screen use the following keys and drag the cursor over the area of your choice. Once you un-click the screenshot is saved to your desktop.

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command-shift-4

To capture a window or menu as a screenshot, use the following keys and then click once with your mouse over the window or menu of your choice.

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command-shift-4-spacebar

Notice after you hit the spacebar a camera icon will appear over the window. Simply click once with your mouse and only that window is saved as a screenshot to your desktop.

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screen shot mac