(Image courtesy of Engadget) From today’s “Take this with a grain of salt” files: An Australian tech journal has some new Apple ads up which appear to show the usual Mac Pros, MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs — but with higher than usual pricing. So what’s going on? According to Engadget , the confusion stems from Apple ads on Australian tech publication PC Authority which display “some rather peculiar price tags for its flagship mobile and desktop computers.” Clicking the online ad takes the viewer to the usual Australian Apple website — but with lower prices. Specifically, Apple Australia’s online store lists the MacBook Pro starting at A$1,599, the MacBook Air at A$1,999 and the Mac Pro at A$3,599, while the “official-looking” ad incorrectly lists the prices as A$1,899, A$2,399 and A$4,499 respectively. The question is, has Apple lost its mind? Is this an unfortunate sign of things to come, or just a slip? There’s no real way to know at this point, although rumors have been swirling that Apple’s laptops will gain Intel Core i7 processors soon, while the Mac Pro has been rumored to gain the Core i7-980X. But it would be out of character for Apple to raise the prices so much for new models, especially at a time when they have so much money in the bank and they’ve been slowly creeping prices downward to continue the good fight against Windows. We figure we’ll find out soon enough…

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Australian Ads Foretell Higher Mac Pricing?

Apparently, you can secure venture-capital funding and launch a successful business all from an iPhone.   Case Study: Amos Winbush Occupation: Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CyberSynchs Gear: iPhone 3GS loaded with Citibank (to keep track of startup finances), Facebook (to keep track of CyberSynchs’ fan page and connect with fellow entrepreneurs), and Twitter (to stay abreast of business news and keep followers informed) Who knew that Pret A Manger at East 17th and Broadway could be such a locus of wheeling and dealing? Listen, we know you love your MacBook. And we love ours. But consider what a hassle it can be when you’re working on the road. A MacBook has to be painstakingly removed from a messenger bag or backpack and plugged in regularly for power (good luck with finding that A/C adapter). And you can’t really use it unless you’re sitting down. And you have to manually connect to whatever Wi-Fi hotspot you can find. And then there are the interminable delays while you boot and launch applications. Plus your MacBook apparatus weighs you down mightily–five pounds or more, and that’s on a good day. Yet for most professionals–especially at the executive level–getting work done without a computer is foolhardy at best, impossible at worst. The notebook is a necessary evil that represents a basic cost of doing business when you aren’t anchored to a desk. Amos Winbush took that conventional wisdom and slapped it in the face. When he launched CyberSynchs, a company that makes data-synchronization software, in 2008, he did it with little more than the iPhone in his pocket

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Wireless Workflow, Emphatically Redefined

Electronista reports that Wearable began shipping their AirStash wireless flash drive today. Those concerned about the lack of an SD card slot now have a highly portable way of accessing media on SD/SDHC cards wirelessly. The AirStash is effectively a portable WiFi access point with an SD slot. It has a pop-out USB plus for easily loading files from your computer to an SD card. Then carry the small unit with you and access it as a wireless network through the iPhone app. It has its own battery, so it doesn’t add any extra drain on your iPhone. It connects at 802.11g rather than 802.11n, so don’t be expecting 720p HD video on an iPad. But they claim a full 30 frames per second at 640×480. The AirStash supports a wide variety of video, audio, and image formats, but surprisingly also claims support for web pages, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, PowerPoint, and Acrobat files. Since it acts as a WiFi access point, it should let you take extra documents with you on a trip and share them with every laptop in the meeting. Don’t have a DVD system in your car? Your kids in the back can watch movies on their iPod touches streamed from an AirStash as seen in the video below:      

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Stream Media from an SD card on the iPhone and iPad

Filed under: Apple , iPad Considering AppleCare for your iPad? I know that I am. For $99, AppleCare extends your iPad warranty coverage to two years from the date of purchase. Although AppleCare tends to be expensive, for certain purchases it can really save you, especially for devices which run a higher risk of component failure over a lifetime of hard use — such as laptops and other mobile tech. Many Apple aficionados tend to avoid buying AppleCare for robust devices like the Mac mini series. Those units tend either to die right away or last forever. They are highly self-serviceable for anyone who has a reasonable degree of comfort with a screwdriver. The iPad and the iPhone, on the other hand, can feel like accidents waiting to happen. Without a simple avenue for owner-repair, they are more of a black box purchase. And their components can and do die much more unexpectedly. In my history of purchasing iPhones and iPod touches, I have personally encountered video driver death and massive touchscreen failure. To be fair, both of these incidents happened within a month or so of purchase, so keep that in mind as well.

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iPad 101: iPad AppleCare pros & cons

This week, Consumer Reports published the results of their latest tech support survey, and no surprise here: Apple came out as the number one company in both laptops and desktops. As usual, Consumer Reports asked 7,000 subscribers about their satisfaction with tech related dealings with various companies. At the end of the day, Apple scored

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Consumer Reports finds Apple’s tech support best in class

Section: Haven’t caught all of the Appletell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! Appletell giveaway: Saddleback Leather laptop case “A few months ago, the fine people at Saddleback Leather provided us with a medium laptop case for review. Now they’re extending that generosity to you by allowing us to give it away to one of our readers. This is 100% waterproof full grain boot leather with a high density…” MORE » Appletell reviews HyperMac External Battery for Apple MacBook MBP-060 “Provides: Extended battery life Developer: HyperMac Minimum Requirements: MacBook or iDevice needing enhanced battery life Price: $199.95 Availability: Now What’s worse than seeing your MacBook’s battery dip below 10%? Seeing it hit zero? Okay, fair enough. But if this happens to you often, you need…” MORE » Gaming gets serious – Steam coming to Mac “If you’re a serious gamer, it’s unlikely you have an all-Mac setup. If you do, there’s probably enough power to comfortably Boot Camp into Windows 7, and enough for a decent frame rate in the latest titles. Otherwise, it seems developers aren’t so…” MORE » Apple’s iPad ad reveals new details “As reported at Appletell, the first TV ad for Apple’s iPad made it’s TV premiere during the Oscars. And you’re probably not surprised that the story doesn’t stop there. No, we actually gained some real information about the iBookstore,…” MORE » Appletell reviews the Moshi Voice Control Alarm Clock “Provides: Voice activation for alarm and time settings Developer: Moshi Lifestyle Minimum Requirements: AC wall outlet (3 AAA batteries for backup), voice Price: $49.99 Availability: Now What does an alarm clock have to do with Apple products? Not much, in this case. There’s no iPhone…” MORE » Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 9, 2010 “Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 9, 2010:  Macintosh iPod Macintosh FileMaker, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of FileMaker Pro…” MORE » Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 8, 2010 “Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 8, 2010:  Macintosh iPod Macintosh Zevrix Solutions is offering BatchOutput Server—its output workflow automation solution…” MORE » First iPad ad hits screens during the Oscars [video] ” If you were watching the Oscars last night, you may have caught sight of Apple’s brand new advertisement for the much awaited iPad. The ad itself races through (with shortened sequences, of course) several features of…” MORE » What will books actually look like on the iPad?

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So Hot Right Now: Top 10 Appletell posts for the week of March 07, 2010

Filed under: Apple Corporate , Hardware , Apple On Wednesday, Consumer Reports published the results of its latest tech support survey. Apple was on top for both laptops and desktops, well ahead of the company in second place. Consumer Reports asked 7,000 subscribers about their satisfaction with their computer companies across categories like problem solved, phone waits, phone staff and online support. Each answer was issued a point value, with a maximum of 100 points. Among laptops, Apple scored 86 points. The second place finisher, Lenovo , accumulated up 63 points, for an impressive margin of 23 points. The rest of the leader board includes Toshiba (60 points), Dell (56 points), HP/Compaq (53 points), and Acer/Gateway/eMachines (39 points). Apple scored even better with desktops, racking up 87 total points and leading the field in all categories. Here the 2nd place competitor was Dell which scored 55 points among the participants, a full 32 points behind. Of course, fanboys like you and me are convinced of Apple quality. Now we have some good ‘ol empirical data to toss at our PC-thumping friends and relatives. [h/t to cnet & Jim Dalrymple ] Apple tops Consumer Reports’ tech support survey, second place not even close originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds

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Apple tops Consumer Reports’ tech support survey, second place not even close

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iPad , iPhone , iPod touch , iDevice Apps , iDevice Accessories , Mac Software Macintosh and iPhone/iPod/iPad product updates and announcements for March 9, 2010: Macintosh iPod Macintosh FileMaker, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of FileMaker Pro 11 . Packed with new and innovative features led by charting, “on the fly” reporting, a new Quick Find capability, and a host of productivity tools for easier database creation, FileMaker Pro 11 makes using databases easier and quicker than ever. For advanced FileMaker users and developers, FileMaker Pro 11 delivers many new features for creating professional solutions in record time. Also available today with new features is the entire FileMaker 11 product line, which includes FileMaker Pro 11 Advanced, FileMaker Server 11 and FileMaker Server 11. Araelium Group has released Querious 1.0 , its all-new database management application for Mac OS X. Querious includes the ability to view, edit, and search data, manage table schema, indexes, queries, and users for MSQL 5. Direct, SSH, and SSL connections are all supported. Querious has been built from the ground up for Mac OS X, featuring a well-crafted user experience that is both comfortable and manages to stay out of the way of experienced developers and database administrators. Mapdiva has announced Ortelius 1.0.7, the latest update of their map design software for Mac OS X. Ortelius is a vector-based cartography application that helps you create high-quality custom map graphics, plans, and scaled drawings

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Mac, iPhone, iPod and iPad product news – March 9, 2010

Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware , Laptops , MacBook Air , MacBook , MacBook Pro , Peripherals , Cases / Bags , Features , Contests and Giveaways A few months ago, the fine people at Saddleback Leather provided us with a medium laptop case for review. Now they’re extending that generosity to you by allowing us to give it away to one of our readers. This is 100% waterproof full grain boot leather with a high density Neoprene padding, and is valued at $265. It’s lightly used, but as is the case with all quality leather products, we like to refer to it as being “broken in.” If you read my review (all pieces covered in the review are included in the giveaway) but didn’t get your order in for the Saddleback Leather laptop case, this may be your last chance. Saddleback Leather has discontinued their laptop case line, directing portable computer users towards their line of thin briefcases , instead. Good thing we’ve made winning this one easy to do. To enter, just follow these three easy steps: Read the Saddleback Leather Laptop Case Contest Rules . Make sure you’re registered with Appletell and logged in. Leave us a comment below on this page , not on the contest rules page. Doesn’t matter what you say, just tell us hello if you want to. That’s all there is to it. Entries will be accepted from March 8th through March 21st. The winner will be randomly selected from all qualified entries, and will be notified by March 28th.

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Appletell giveaway: Saddleback Leather laptop case

Section: iPhone / iPod touch / iPad , iDevice Accessories , Macintosh / Apple Hardware , Laptops , Peripherals , Reviews Provides: Extended battery life Developer: HyperMac Minimum Requirements: MacBook or iDevice needing enhanced battery life Price: $199.95 Availability: Now What’s worse than seeing your MacBook’s battery dip below 10%? Seeing it hit zero? Okay, fair enough. But if this happens to you often, you need a solution. HyperMac has an entire line of batteries just for this purpose. And yes, they come with MagSafe connections. But even if you just have an iPhone or iPad, the HyperMac MBP-060 has you more than covered. Actually, if you need an external battery for a MacBook with MagSafe connector, HyperMac is still your only choice. The MagSafe connector, that magnetic thing that charges your MacBook, is proprietary to Apple (read, they won’t sell the connection by itself to anyone for any purpose).  Basically, HyperMac is the only company willing to buy Apple MacBook power adapters and hack off the ends simply for the cable. Is it a waste? Maybe, but it’s not HyperMac’s fault, it’s Apple’s for not licensing the connection. Anyway, back to the review. They have numerous options, but the best option with both price and portability in mind is the smallest external battery aimed at notebooks, the MBP-060.  It’s ideal for when you need extra power on the go for a single day.  For most users, that’s enough.  And it’s not limited to just your MacBook.  You can also use it to power any of your USB gadgets, which makes it a perfect accessory for the iPad.  While Apple claims 10+ hours of battery life, in practice, that may be different.  And even if it is correct, there are times when you just don’t have access to a power outlet for an extended period of time.  This battery will keep you going. Now a quick word of warning; while this battery can, and will charge a 15.4 or 17 inch MacBook Pro, it doesn’t do so efficiently.  These models draw more watts than this model of battery is most efficient at providing.  They say the this may reduce the charging abilities of this battery for these models of MacBook Pros to 70%.  That’s still pretty useful, though, and not an issue for any MacBook with a smaller screen.  It’s also not a concern of the iPad.  Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program. This battery is a bit different from the larger capacity batteries offered by HyperMac.  Its design is a bit more sleek, and since it’s targeted towards MacBook Air users, it has the MacBook Air connector as the default option.  Mind you, the Air MagSafe connector will work just fine with other MacBooks, even larger Pros.  And honestly, it looks nicer

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Appletell reviews HyperMac External Battery for Apple MacBook MBP-060