Here’s the details on connecting the new, single port, MacBook Pro to a variety of peripherals.
Hardware
The new MacBook is almost all battery
Check out the picture. The MacBook is mostly battery. An ingenious approach to maximizing battery size.
On the Apple Watch, rumored numbers, and planned obsolescence
Projected Apple Watch sales numbers from the Wall Street Journal, plus projected production numbers, and some thoughts on Apple Watch and planned obsolescence.
Be your own Genius
the best repairs are the ones you do yourself. To that end, spend a few minutes reading Joe Caiati’s Mac troubleshooting guide, posted on 512 Pixels.
Joe is a former Apple Genius and writes from hard-won experience.
Untold story of the video game cartridge
Think you know the story behind the video game cartridge? Not only was all of this new to me, I never even heard of the RAVEN console. A fascinating read, well written and rich in tech history.
One-armed 7 year old boy is surprised with 3D printed storm-trooper arm
The arm was built as part of e-NABLE, an online community that uses 3D printers to make prosthetics for those who need them. Watch the video to see Liam Porter get his new arm.
Apple devices and a constant for battery life
Jason Snell offers an interesting analysis on the daily battery expectancy for iOS devices.
Monster sues Beats Electronics and founders for fraud
Wall Street Journal:
In a complaint filed in Superior Court in San Mateo County, Calif., Monster said Beats “fraudulently acquired” the Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones through a “sham transaction” with HTC, which agreed to purchase a 51% stake in Beats for $300 million in 2011.
Breathe life into an old Mac
Joe Caiati, a long time IT pro, shares some tips for breathing new life into your old Mac.
Wristband notices when you fall asleep and records your TV show
Two teenagers built this. Heck of an idea.
Intel and Apple, an incredible missed opportunity
Jean-Louis Gassée takes on Intel, pointing out a missed opportunity (Intel passed on a chance to be the sole supplier of iPhone processors) and a lack of focus on mobile, and on Apple in particular.
Predicting hard drive failure using SMART stats
Read the linked blog post to learn about hard drive failure, what SMART does and does not do well, and the decisions Backblaze makes to minimize drive failure, maximize their chances of catching a drive failure before it happens.
Andy Ihnatko: I laugh at your piddling “5K” display
Andy Ihnatko had the chance to visit the war room at NASA Goddard’s space weather lab. Take a look at this picture he snapped of what he calls “the single greatest browser tab ever rendered”. Then read on.
Apple’s first employee: The remarkable odyssey of Bill Fernandez
Ever hear of Bill Fernandez? Maybe not, but his importance to Apple’s early success is undeniable. And it makes for a great Sunday read.
Best SSDs for the money
Tom’s hardware puts a number of solid-state-drives through their paces, lays it all out for you.
No, you can’t manufacture that like Apple does
Interesting take on some design elements that require economies of scale that Apple, and almost no other manufacturer, can afford.
The true nature of the pixels on an iPhone 6 Plus
Ole Begemann used a closeup camera rig to take pictures of the iPhone 6 Plus screen doing its downsampling magic. Pretty pictures, and he published all his code on GitHub for folks who want to try this themselves.
V.ALRT is a panic button that automatically sends your location to up to 3 contacts
V.ALRT is a personal alert device that cause your phone to automatically dial or text message to three pre-selected contacts, sending your current location along with a canned message (such as “I’ve been in an accident”).
Google Glass future clouded as some early believers lose faith
Reuters:
While Glass may find some specialized, even lucrative, uses in the workplace, its prospects of becoming a consumer hit in the near future are slim, many developers say.
Build your own Apple I from scratch
I love to build stuff, especially if it involves circuit boards and solder. I’ve made my share of guitar interfaces (some of which actually do what they are supposed to!) and gadgets of all stripes.
In the video below, Ben Heck from Element 14 talks you through the first part of the process of building a working Apple I computer, complete with peekable, pokable ROM. Part 2 is scheduled to be released Friday night, November 14th.
Windows 95 running on an Android watch
[VIDEO] The Verge:
What happens when you give an Android Wear smartwatch to a 16-year-old with a bit too much time on his hands? You get Windows 95 on your wrist. Now, we frankly have no idea why you’d load a desktop operating system from twenty years ago onto a Samsung Gear Live smartwatch with a 1.63-inch display, but, hey, why not? Thanks to emulator software available for Android, this technology mishmash is a reality.
I am mesmerized! Watch the video.
Samsung and the pitch to stay on Apple’s ARM
ZDNet (via 9to5mac):
Kim Ki-nam, president of the Korean electronic giant’s semiconductor business and head of System LSI business, told reporters at Samsung’s headquarters in Seoul that once the company begins to supply Apple with chips using its latest technology, profits “will improve positively”.
Why Samsung and not TSMC? Because size matters.
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus teardowns
[VIDEO] Per tradition, every major Apple product release is followed quickly by a teardown video from iFixit. I love taking things apart and fixing them myself and I am very happy with the improvements Apple has made to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus construction, making it much easier to replace the display and battery.
As you watch the video, note the use of the iSclack tool, a kind of pliers with a pair of facing suction cups designed to grab onto the front and back of the iPhone. Once you’ve removed the iPhone screws, you place the ISClack, press on the suction cups, squeeze the ISClack handles, the suction cups separate, and the phone gently opens. Nice design there.
Setting the iWatch bar
[Review and Video] Earlier this year, Motorola ended its short stay with Google when it was sold to Lenovo.
TechCrunch has confirmed reports that Lenovo is buying Motorola Mobility from Google. This is the division within Google that the company purchased in 2011 for $12.5 billion. Motorola Mobility will go to Lenovo for $2.91 billion.
Lenovo-owned Motorola quietly released a smart-watch yesterday, the Moto 360. Everyone’s tastes differ of course, but for me, this is the watch that sets the bar for Android and for smart-watches. This is the watch that you should keep in mind when and if Apple announces an iWatch next Tuesday.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are racing to patent reusable rockets
SpaceX is challenging the Blue Origin reusable rocket patent. Big stakes here.
Inside Google’s secret drone delivery program
Humans need not apply
[VIDEO] The video below is long, but thoughtful and riveting. It make the case that just as horses have been replaced by technology, humans are next. If that sounds like silly logic, invest one minute, just to see what you think.
From the narrative:
Self driving cars aren’t the future. They’re here and they work. Self-driving cars have driven hundreds of thousands of miles up and down the California coast and through cities, all without human intervention. The question is not if they’ll replace cars, but how quickly. They don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be better than us. Human drivers, by the way, kill 40,000 people a year with cars, just in the United States. Given that self-driving cars don’t blink, don’t text while driving, don’t get sleepy or stupid, it’s easy to see them being better than humans because they already are.
Self driving cars replacing human drivers is already a done deal. That die is cast. This is just one small example of what is coming.
This is the chip that could make your MacBook even thinner and lighter
Google consortium to build trans-Pacific, undersea fiber-optic cable
From the NEC press release:
A consortium of six global companies announced that they have signed commercial agreements to build and operate a new Trans-Pacific cable system to be called “FASTER” with NEC Corporation as the system supplier. The FASTER cable network will connect the United States to two landing locations in Japan.
The holy grail of battery design
Battery tech just took a huge leap forward, as Stanford scientists have solved a problem that has been a major roadblock in battery design.