The Pink Mac

Diary of a Mac Chick 09/29/09.

The Future of iPhone Exclusivity

In recent international iPhone news, announcements came this week that the UK based cellular service provider O2 will no longer have an exclusive arrangement within the UK to carry the iPhone. Orange, a competing service provider will debut the iPhone later this year, suggesting that the exclusive contracts made by Apple with service providers were not built to last like the products themselves.

Although this is the first case of an exclusive iPhone contract ending since the release of the device in 2007, it is of course no absolute proof that Apple’s contract with AT&T in the US will come to an end. It is a good sign, however, and perhaps the only real hope for those of us loyal to other carriers to see the iPhone any time soon.

The idea of multiple carriers for the iPhone would of course benefit the consumers, as the introduction of choice would force service providers to entice customers with special deals or a stronger network. Orange claims they are the largest service provider within the UK, so their introduction into the iPhone market will not only benefit Apple with increased sales on a large network, but also create competition with O2 to provide better and perhaps cheaper service to their customers.

Overall, I am hopeful that this will mean Apple is prepared to reevaluate their exclusive iPhone deals. Perhaps they will use the result of the UK’s example to determine if opening up to multiple carriers in the US would be beneficial to the company. In the end, the choice comes down to the question of how to give iPhone users the best experience while also creating profits for both the service provider and Apple itself, and it seems as though multiple carriers could be the answer.

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White Macbook Refresh on the Horizon.

In an exciting turn of events, it seems as though Apple will be refreshing their white Macbook line in the coming months, claims AppleInsider. After the upgrade of the Aluminum Macbooks to the Pro lineup, and the disappearance of the Black Macbook before that, it has seemed as though Apple planned to phase out their low-end model, but if these rumors are true, we might be in store for a slimmer, sleeker, and cheaper Macbook than we have ever seen before. If this report is true, I am going off on a limb to suggest that we will see another $200 price break on the model, bringing the most affordable member of the Macbook family to an even more competitive and family friendly price point. Watch out PCs, it seems as though your days may be numbered!
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Richard Solo is one with the Force.

Although I have owned my Blackberry Tour for about two months now, I am still on the hunt for great and necessary accessories to boost the productivity and protection of the device. After weeks of use, I have observed that the smartphone’s battery leaves something to be desired when it comes to talk time. The battery life does fine with mobile web browsing and text messaging, giving me about 2 days of moderate use with light talk time, but I have noticed that if I have a few long conversations, my battery life is down to one day or even less. This isn’t a major problem for me, because I am not someone who actually talks on the phone much- I use my cell phone mostly for texting and, now that I have a Blackberry, web browsing and tethering. My conversations number about 5-10 calls a day, lasting an average of 2-5 minutes, but if I have an hour long conversation with a friend, my battery is drained!

To solve this problem, I have been looking into external backup batteries to take with me on the go in case I find myself in a situation where my battery is dying and I don’t have access to an outlet. So far, the best option I have found is the Richard Solo 1800 for Blackberry and Smartphones. This backup battery will double your battery life, says the website, but they can’t translate that into actual talk time as your battery life is determined by your usage. This makes sense because, as I said before, my battery life varies based on how much I talk on the phone in a given day. A feature I really like about this device is that you can charge your phone and the backup battery in tandem. So when I am at home I can plug the 1800 into my Blackberry and then plug the 1800 into the wall and both devices are charging simultaneously. That way I save an outlet and don’t have to “remember” to charge the backup battery as well as my own phone. The 1800 is a small device that can easily slide into a small pocket in a bag for travel, it includes a wire for micro-USB and a direct connection to mini-USB for different Blackberry or smartphone models, and at $69.95 I think this little guy could be a real life/battery saver if you are in a jam or just traveling!

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Juicy Tech.

I am always on the hunt for a great, feminine laptop bag- either for myself, or to at least to share with you, my readers! So, when I came across Juicy Couture’s line of laptop sleeves and cases, I thought I just had to share my favorite styles. I am not normally one who likes Juicy Couture’s line of clothing and accessories, however, I think there is something to be said for these tech bags. The bag above is a hot pink laptop sleeve that fits up to a 15″ laptop. I love the embossed logo and the big bow- and of course, the color! Below is a pink plaid laptop case (not sure the size laptop it fits) that I absolutely adore! I am a major fan of pink and black plaid and I think they have an alternate pattern of reverse black and pink, as well! Follow the link above to see all 9 styles of sleeves and bags available, their are a few styles to choose from and they are all feminine and very unique! Only down side to these bags is that like the rest of Juicy Couture’s line, they are pricey: $98 for the sleeve above and $120 for the case below.
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Diary of a Mac Chick 09/22/09.

Why a Blackberry?

The other day a reader asked me why I purchased a Blackberry if I was such a fan of Apple products and I thought it was such a good question that I decided to formulate my answer in the form of a post. I know it was only a few weeks ago I was pining over the iPhone, wishing that it would finally be brought to Verizon so that I wouldn’t have to switch networks. Alas, it was shortly after that I bought my new phone, the Blackberry Tour. I know it might seem like I did a sudden 180 degree turn in my thinking, but really, my desire for an iPhone was what pushed me to get a Blackberry.
I had spent so much time thinking about why I loved and absolutely needed an iPhone, that I realized how much I would benefit from a smartphone in general. I wasn’t about to switch to AT&T over a phone, even if it was for the iPhone, because as much as I firmly believe that the iPhone is an amazing device, I know that the network is what makes the phone usable and, unfortunately, AT&T is doing a great job of stripping functionality away from the iPhone, not the other way around.

So, I did some thinking about why I wanted an iPhone to begin with and the features I liked most about it that made it different from the iPod Touch I already owned. I definitely wanted a smartphone for email, internet browsing and GPS applications on the road, which the iPod Touch can’t provide. On top of that, I wanted a phone with camera and video capabilities as well as both SMS and MMS text messaging. I also wanted to be able to tether my phone to my Mac while I am away from home so that I am never without an internet connection- that was a biggie! Now to think of elements of the iPhone I was less interested in. I definitely didn’t need another media player (I already own 3 iPods of various models), or a majority of the applications from the app store, which is really the crowning glory of the iPhone but also available on my iPod Touch. So when push came to shove, I didn’t actually need most of what made the iPhone the iPhone, especially since I already had an iPod Touch.

Eventually, I decided to look into Verizon smart phones with the specific functions I was looking for and of course I came across the Blackberry lineup. I was actually surprised at myself for entertaining the idea of a Blackberry to begin with, as the brand to me has always been synonymous with “PC”- like businessmen and a culture of overworking (i.e. does bringing your Blackberry on vacation actually constitute time away from the office?). I guess what really did it for me, however, was the fact that a Blackberry device would (a) be able to satisfy all my smart phone needs, and (b) would be backed by a name with tremendous brand loyalty and a cult following not so far off from the likes of the Apple community itself.

After taking a look at the popular models available, I leaped into the cult of Crackberry addicts with the Tour (9630) which has a great design, a great email client, a browser I actually fell comfortable using, and an application store that gives me everything I need to utilize the power of the Blackberry smart phone. Of course, the Blackberry device did have some shortcomings, namely the lack of connectivity to the Mac, which provided me with a few headaches that I have since soothed with great software I found through the internet that gives me the ability to tether, and now sync, the Blackberry to my computer. Overall, I am pleased with my choice of the Blackberry Tour and so far it has exceeded my smartphone expectations, but of course, like any good Apple fan girl, I am not ruling out the possibility of an iPhone in the future!
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Vaja i-Volution for Blackberry Tour.

Today I took some great pictures of my new Vaja i-Volution for the Blackberry Tour. You can see the full set of images on my flickr but I put together this little montage for a nice overview of the case. As you can probably tell from observing the images above and below, the color of the case is not the same in both. The picture above is the accurate color of the case, unfortunately, the color shown below was the closest I could get due to the lighting conditions when I took the pictures, but they certainly show the case design perfectly!

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The Pink MacBerry Speed Test

One of my blog readers asked me to do a speed test to see the download and upload speeds I get when I am connected to my blackberry, so here are the results. They were rather low tonight, and I confess, I did test the speeds on my blackberry before and I got a 3 Mbps download and about .5 upload, so not as bad as today’s results. I think I will have to revisit this speed test another day to see if the numbers change. Enjoy!
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Diary of a Mac Chick 09/14/09

A ‘lil music in my pocket

To be honest I don’t care for the new iPod Nano. I know it just received a video camera and FM radio built in now, but I could really care less. What good is video capability if you can’t take still pictures? Unless you’re talking about a device devoted to video capture, but that would mean higher video resolution and greater storage capacity, and if you are looking for that the Nano is certainly not the device for you. Okay, so what is the still picture-less video camera in the Nano good for then? Well, not much honestly. The quality is comparable to that of a video recorder you would find in a cell phone, and not even the iPhone for that matter as video testing has proven that the iPhone 3GS has better video quality than the Nano 5g. So, basically you most likely already have a device in your pocket with a similar low resolution video recorder that also multitasks as a phone and, depending on your cell phone, a gaming system, web browser and even music player.
So why the iPod Nano 5g? I can’t really answer that question, I guess only you can if you are interested in the new device. Personally, I prefer a simpler Nano like the 3g which to me is the perfect miniature iPod- truly tiny but also packed with useful components. All a Nano is really good for is (1) music, (2) video, and (3) games, due to it’s minimal storage capacity. Think about it, adding recorded video is just another way to eat up space on your device- space that you probably would prefer to use for capabilities the iPod Nano is actually good at like playing small but high resolution video movies and tv shows.

To me the addition of a video camera is pointless on a device that has no real use for it. At least if Apple had put the video recorder on the iPod touch you could perhaps upload video to YouTube or email said videos without having to upload the footage to a computer first, and then you would have a real vested interest in using up precious space on your iPod to make short, low resolution videos. The Nano has no wifi internet connection and therefore you are forced to download the video to your computer before you are able to share it, and again I am drawn to the comparison of a cell phone video camera, where at least you can do something with the video you have taken immediately, rather then once you sync to your iTunes. So, that is my opinion! Take it or leave it but I am not a fan of the iPod Nano 5g. What about you?