Strange & Charmed

I realize I am a few days late on this, but New Year’s Day was the 1st Birthday of this blog! It has been a crazy year full of ups and downs- there were months I barely blogged, and there were months where I blogged often. My YouTube Channel has become a success in my eyes (although I haven’t made a video since October) with over 100 followers! I am also thankful for my association with Speck Products, who have provided me with a few samples for me to review on my blog and YouTube channel this year! Overall, I am more than pleased at the state of this blog one year later and I really have two people to thank for that; myself and you. Myself because I am the creator of this blog and therefore have control of what I put on here. I have tried throughout the year not to fill this blog with junk just to post and have truly only blogged about things I liked/ disliked or cared about enough to share with my readers and I think that has made this blog and my YouTube channel a success. Of course, however I would have had no reason to bother if I didn’t know I had hundreds and thousands of unique visitors who would show up on my site for a visit, and so I have to also thank you for making this blog more than just a personal diary of tech news and gadget talk but really, a place to share information and ideas with a like- minded community. Of course I have some resolutions for this blog for the upcoming year- I want to continue to post and not loose my steam here, and I want to try a few new fun things if I can, so stay tuned in 2010 because I do this all for you!

On a more personal note, there is one more person I should probably thank for the great year this blog has had, and that is my creative director/boyfriend who keeps me in line and blogging even when I don’t have a word to post. If it weren’t for his suggestions, tweaks, and emails filled with blog post ideas for me to look over, I might not have about half of my content. He really has become something of an editor for this blog, and I truly appreciate his love and support for The Pink Mac!

Well, the inevitable has finally happened! In New York City, the population of iPhones has finally hit a limit with AT&T, who has stopped selling iPhone’s to it’s customers online in the city due to an inability to support internet service to the growing iPhone community. Customer’s can still go to a store and purchase the phone, but AT&T has stopped online sales in an obvious attempt to slow purchasing. The real question out of all this, however, is will Apple see AT&T’s actions as a sign that they should open iPhone service up to other providers? Spreading out the load of iPhone users would be a prudent decision if AT&T cannot provide service to all those who want an iPhone and staying with one carrier like this who is closing internet sales of the phone in high volume area’s like NYC will certainly slow Apple’s business. I will of course keep you abreast of the situation as it develops!

Read the article here.

Although I am not usually a video gamer when it comes to the old fashioned TV, console and controller set up, I was surprised to find this year that I really enjoy the Nintendo Wii. Throughout the year I have been playing my boyfriend’s family’s Wii, but for Christmas I received my own, along with a Wii Fit Plus Balance Board. It really is an entertaining video game console, and I love the wireless remotes that work on a sensor (it makes playing Wii while I’m in bed very easy). Most of all, I love the games! I’m not a fan of the usual point and shoot or RPG games popular with other video game consoles, but I do love that with the Wii I can play tennis, a round of golf, do yoga or play pool without leaving my room. Furthermore, the action of playing these games is so much closer to reality then any other form of video gaming that it really heightens my enjoyment in playing. The player is not pressing buttons or using a joystick to complete actions, but rather they are swinging their arms or running in place or taking aim at the tv screen- which makes the Wii much more engaging than other video game systems on the market right now! I will have to keep you informed of my progress with the Wii Fit- part of me thinks it could be a fun way to get more exercise; I took a run with it yesterday and it certainly felt like working out! Then again, it could just end up being a useless accessory, but you never know!

Since the first two items on my favorite things list were Apple products, I should probably switch gears a bit and talk about some great products from some other companies. One of my favorite little accessories from 2009 has been the Pogo Sketch from Ten One Designs, which you may remember seeing on my Holiday Gift Guide. Ten One Designs makes a few different products mostly designed to aid users of touch enabled devices. Their Pogo line of touch screen pens are inexpensive but high quality and make very nice accessories to any phone, mp3 player or computer with touch capabilites. I suggest the Pogo Sketch, because unlike it’s sibling the Pogo Stylus it has a build in clip and works on a wider range of touch screens including the Macbook trackpad! I’ve been using mine to draw and although it’s not the same level of quality as a Wacom Tablet, it is a great deal for anyone who needs a little more control than a mouse offers!

The first of my favorite tech things of 2009 that I am going to review for you is something that I have been using for about a month now, but I have been waiting until now to review. Apple’s Magic Mouse made it’s debut at the end of October alongside a beefed up iMac and a remarkable new Macbook which I have already reviewed, and although it was the smalled addition to the Apple family that day, it was my favorite. It took me until Mid November to finally get my hands on the little gadget, but I ended up purchasing two; one for myself and one for my boyfriend who had just purchased his first Mac, the 15″ Macbook Pro. It was my mid-NaNoWriMo gift to myself for being so on track, and I figured it would help motivate me through the rest of the month.

So, like I said, I have had it for about a month now and I absolutely love it because for me, it is the best of both worlds; part track pad, part mouse. I think that is the best way to describe it in fact. It is a movable track pad with some multi touch capabilities. It is lightweight, sleek and small, more ergonomic than a track pad itself and far more attractive on my desk. The one major downside to the device is the lack of the range of multi touch gestures the Macbook track pads have, but this is an issue Apple can fix in an software update if they wanted to. I am sure they will, and they certainly should, but then they would have to change the name of the mouse to “Mystical” or “Amazing” because adding more multi touch gestures would make this mouse more than just Magic.

I am aware that some people who have used the Magic Mouse complain of the slow tracking speed, but I was able to adjust the tracking of the mouse to suit my preferences and I am pleased with that. Also, some have complained that the mouse doesn’t glide as easily as they would like across surfaces, although again, this hasn’t been a problem for me and in fact I think the weight of the mouse makes it easier to glide than any other mouse I have used.

I am certainly not someone who was ever fanatical about a mouse, in fact, I hardly use one, but the design of Apple’s Magic Mouse makes me want to use it and makes it easy for a track pad loving girl like me to switch over to a mouse from time to time. That is what makes a product great in my eyes and that is why it has officially earned a place on my Favorite Things list of 2009!

Over the next few weeks before New Years I plan to write a series of posts dedicated to my favorite techy things of 2009. I plan to limit my posts to gadgets and gear I own or have used throughout the year, so I hope you will be stopping back to see what goodies I have for you that I may or may not have already reviewed over the year. There are a few choice items I have been holding off on reviewing for this very purpose and some others for which I will give a follow up review with my second thoughts. I know December is a busy month for everyone so I hope these posts make up for my lack of constant posting this month!

Happy Holiday’s to all! Well, now that the holiday season in is full swing, I thought I would share with you all some discounts for tech gear that I have found.

I received in my email the other day a holiday coupon code for Clark & Mayfield that I thought I would share with you all. It’s good for 20% off your purchase and free shipping to the lower 48 states within the U.S. Just use the code holiday09!

Speck is having a holiday sale as well, their hard shell covers for the Macbook line are buy one- get one 50% off! Just shop on their site!

My Gear Store has a Black Friday sale going on until 11/30/09. Use the code Black20 for 20% off their already reduced prices on any purchase!

Finally, Best Buy has begun their 2-day Cyber Monday sale today with free shipping on all orders over $25 and some great deals all around their site, so be sure to check them out as well!