Four Things to Know When Buying a Second-Hand Mac

Mac computers have many benefits over PC brands, not to mention the fact that there are plenty of fun things you can do with them. If you are looking for a new Mac computer, chances are you are aware that they can be very expensive. We previously did a piece on buying a Mac for Christmas.

One way to get your high-quality computer on a budget is to buy it second-hand. There are a few different ways to buy a second-hand Mac: direct from Apple, retail shops, and individuals. However, buying a used computer is can be cause for concern, especially if you aren’t sure what to look for. Keep in mind these four tips when you are shopping for you second-hand Mac.

The Exact Specs

When shopping for used computers online on Gumtree, or a refurbished machine somewhere like The Bookyard, it is very important that you pay attention to the descriptions. Vague listings aren’t necessarily a red flag, but the users that post the exact specs of the computer are much more reliable.

If you see a well-priced Mac but the description is not very enlightening, it may be worth it to email the owner and ask about the details. The most important things to know are the year it was made, the RAM memory capacity, hard drive storage, and information about the Mac’s graphics card. You can look these things up yourself if you have your hands on the actual Mac by clicking the Apple icon, clicking on “About this Mac”, and finally clicking on “More Info”. The box that pops up will lists all of these specs and more.

The Screen Condition 

Be sure to look closely at the screen of your potential purchase. Turn on the computer so that the light illuminates any potential cracks or dead pixels. If you have no way to check out the computer for yourself, ask for pictures that show the screen illuminated. If the screen is damaged, you will be able to tell just by looking at it. Replacing a screen can be very expensive, so unless you are getting a really great deal overall, you should seriously consider moving on to another Mac.

Quality of the Body

Whether you are buying a laptop or a desktop Mac, the body surrounding the screen can be indicative of the condition of the computer. Inspect every part of the metal body, looking for dents, scratches, or any other imperfections. Usually, small imperfections are not a problem unless you prefer aesthetically for your Mac to be pristine. In fact, little issues like this can often mean a deep discount. However, anything more than one or two tiny blemishes might spell out issues later and poor care of the machine in the past.

If it Can Be Charged 

Some people try to get rid of their Mac because it has lost the ability to hold a charge. Don’t fall into this trap! Always check for a good charging speed before buying. It’s possible that the issue could lie in the charger itself, which is a cheap fix. But you always want to be sure that it isn’t the actual computer itself.

By checking these things you are far more likely to end up with a good deal than a dud.

Apple Patent Reveals Method of Attaching Sapphire Cover Glass to iPhone

Apple’s Patent – Ceramic Cover for Electronic Device Housing

It has been reported that though Apple had not introduced the rumoured sapphire displays with its updated iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smartphones the company is working hard in bringing about a solution for the future according to the latest Apple patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which describes methods of attaching sapphire cover glass to the iPhone.

 Though the patent focuses on attachment methods, it does not indicate potential use of sapphire in electronic devices. The patent describes the use of either sapphire or zirconia which has been titled `Ceramic cover for electronic device housing’, both in crystalline type, to obtain appropriate transparency levels.

 Past inventions of Apple’s dealing with sapphire usually dealt with material production, and the ceramic cover housing patent explains in details the methods of fixing the ceramic cover housing on the handset indicating that instead of using adhesives which add extra thickness to the overall build, an attachment like mortise and tenon joints could be used.

In a single embodiment , the laser ablation technique has been adopted to carve out recesses in a sheet of sapphire which is specified between -.3 mm and 1.0 mm in thickness and a jet of fluid enables it to cool the material carrying away ablated ceramic which could resettle into a freshly cut recess.

Need for Specific Embodiments

Fixing the sapphire to the device housing requires Apple’s usual shock resistant thermoplastic peripheral side members, the thin black buffer zone which is seen on all iPhone and iPad model. Specific embodiments is needed for the peripheral material to hold the housing, the similar design seen in iPhone 6 while others look to cover areas which would remain exposed like the iPhone 4 and 4S.

The sapphire cover has dovetail recesses ablated into it while corresponding angled tenons are integrated together with the peripheral side member and when joined or moulded together in some cases, the components tend to create mechanical interlock providing substantial gap free construction. The peripheral member is made of a ceramic strengthen composite probably using ceramic fibres or particles mixed with polymers wherein these peripheral bodies could be disposed in one or two layers.

Patent Application – Inventor, Kelvin Kwong

Detailed in its patent filing the tech giant company is sinking assets in its sapphire display cover for its flagship smartphone product line. As per the invention, the use of sapphire or zirconia in crystalline form is used though Apple is likely to use sapphire, keeping in mind bet on the material with failed $578 million investment in GT Advanced.

The patent also gives further details with regards to alternative processes in achieving largely a similar design together with moulding techniques, secondary designs and exemplary implementation. Credits of its sapphire iPhone cover patent application go to Kelvin Kwong as its inventor which was first filed for in May 2013.

As with all Apple’s patents and it application, it is yet unknown when and if the said technology indicated would be making its way to the final product. We could wait for more updates coming from these quarters.

Beats Announces First Headphones under Apple

Beats Solo2 Wireless Headphones 

Beats has recently announced its first new product, Solo2 wireless headphones, since its acquisition by Apple. Apple has agreed to acquire the acclaimed subscription streaming music service Beat Music and Beats Electronic, which produces the popular Beats headphones, audio software and speakers.

Beats co-founders, Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre, as part of the acquisition, would be joining Apple who is acquiring the two companies for a sum of $3billion. The purchase price consists of around $2.6 billion and approximately $400 million that will vest over a period of time.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO comments that `music is an important part of life and holds a special place in the hearts at Apple and hence they have been investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary team in order to continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world’.

 Jimmy Iovine adds that `he had always known in his heart that Beats belong with Apple and the idea started when the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, songwriters, artist and the music industry is something special’.

Largest Acquisition made by Apple

The deal is the largest acquisition ever made by Apple. Beats Electronics is the maker of a wide range of audio equipment, car audio systems besides headphones, audio software and the company is well known for its brand of high end consumer headphones and speakers.

The company had relationship with Monster and HTC earlier and its headphones as well as portable speaker line had a great presence at Apple Retail Store locations. In late January, the company had also launched a music subscription services to compete with Spotify, Pandora as well as Apple’s iTunes Radio though the service is young, had reportedly added about 200,00 subscribers since its launch.

The headphone can be connected to any chosen music player through Bluetooth and would be going on sale this month in the US for about $300 in black/blue, white and red. Besides the wireless capabilities, the updated headphones do not differ radically from Solo2 on ear headphones, joining Powerbeats2 earbuds and Studio headphones in Beats wireless products.

Headphones with Built-in Rechargeable Battery

The headphones come with a built-in rechargeable battery which can run up to 12 hours of wireless playback time and should one forget to charge the headphones or the battery goes off, all that is needed is to just plug in the RemoteTalk cable and use the pair wired while continuing with your music.

Moreover Users can receive calls, skip songs as well as adjust the volume levels with the use of the `b’ button and volume buttons on the ear cup, expecting good hours of wireless playback, according to the company. Beats President, Luke Wood has commented that `they are taking the most popular headphone in the world and adding wireless Bluetooth functions to it.

The Solo2 is a world class headphone lauded for its acoustics and it joins the growing family of successful wireless products’. It was reported that Apple has officially closed on the deal to purchase Beat Electronic for $3B where Apple had announced the deal in an official press release.

Project Management Software from a Reputable Company: Project Management, rather a smooth ride!

Comindware Project is a fresh new addition to the crowded market of Project Manager Software products vowing to take forward the benchmark, for such software, to a whole new level. The software by Comindware chiefly focuses on collaboration and features that will help you keep yourself organized, and with its own unique design it has got the look and feel of a winner.

Whenever someone considers purchasing project-managing software, they expect the product to be the best way to achieve their project management plan, tracking, reporting and collaborating. It is that dynamic software that one could look out for to serve their purposes right from the time of your WBS creation – identifying your tasks and subtasks - allocation and management of resources – defining priorities including task viewing pinned to a predictive Grantt Chart. You can export reports that can be used for client updates as well as invoicing depending on the employee time spent.

Ease of Implementation 

The cloud-based product for trials is easy to access and appears seamlessly without bugs. You will get tutorials available that will help you get familiar with this software. There are discounts offered on purchasing the product, like - 5 percent off on your first month’s payment or 10 percent discount on your first year’s payment.

Setups 

You are able to set up as many tasks as you want, but when you assign to anyone other than yourself, you will need to add him/her to your list of resources. Besides creating tasks, you can add deadlines to it as well and assign a person who will finish the task in future.

About People 

You can easily track your resources by just clicking on the People option in the software menu and select from the names of the people appearing in the list generated. Project management app-Comindware Project takes care of your resource allocation so that nobody is over scheduled and shows who are available to be assigned a task.

Charts and Teamwork 

A project manager software is always incomplete without a Grantt Chart and this version of the project software has not failed to provide that.

Optimized Team Collaboration 

This product is able to facilitate the most exciting aspect of getting your whole team involved in a particular task. It boosts employee engagement that automatically guarantees you of an increased productivity. Every person connected on a project will be able to communicate in a single room. You can even create private rooms in case you and your deputy need to exchange some private communications.

Pricing 

The company’s focus on collaboration reflects in the company’s pricing of such a highly recommended product and this company has a natural feel for the logistical parts of any project manager’s map. You can purchase it for about $300 a year for one user only. The prices decrease on addition of licenses. It would be really great thing if you buy it for 10 managers as your designated users will be able to use the product as well. All these features position this software as an affordable team collaborative project management software. The on premise product costs slightly more reasonably.

Swype Keyboard – Updated Version of App

Nuance Communication, Inc. has announced that its famous Swype keyboard for iPhone, iPod and iPad touch users with iOS8 would be available now in over 20 languages. Those iPhone and iPad users preferring Swype’s iOS keyboard will find more to tap into, in the updated version of the app.

Other features also include new intuitive emoji support besides the new keyboard layouts. iPad users can access all available Swype themes and its continuous touch technology will bring about a change in the way people feed in text on the smartphone which became the top paid third party keyboard within 24 hours of its launch on the App Store.

Swype is one of the many third party keyboards which have come up since Apple opened support for them in iOS 8 and though the built-in keyboard of Apple provides predictive typing as well as other features, some of the third party keyboard provides additional functionality like gesture based type and Swype is one of them.

Version 1.1 of Swype was released recently adding a number of features and tweaks for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users and one have the option of choosing from 21 languages which include 16 new ones which are available for download.

New Keyboard Layouts

Nuance Communication. Inc., has been a leading provider of voice and language solution for all businesses as well as consumers across the world and its technologies, applications and services has provided the users with enhanced way in interacting with devices and system.

Swype is a part of Nuance’s portfolio of touch, voice and natural language understanding innovations which defines new generations of smart systems and personal assistant technologies. People can experience more human conversation with the world’s most updated phone, computers, tablets, cars, TVs apps and service through Nuance technology, from leading manufacturers and operators.

 The app owned by Nuance has added new keyboard layouts which supports AZERTY as well as QWERTZ besides the tradition QWERTY style. `Sound on keypress’ enabled will help to hear a sound while pressing a key or one could opt out of it according to the user’s preference.

New Swype Features

The features for new Swype for iPhone and iPod touch includes –

Expanded Language Support besides English, Italian, German, French and Spanish, Swype has more than 20 languages which include Czech, Dutch, Danish, UK English, Finnish, Greek, Hinglish, Hungarian, Irish, Norwegian, Polish Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Swedish and Turkish.

It has intuitive Emoji input wherein when a message is send to a friend in anexcited mood; Swype automatically suggests the right emoji.

It predicts emoji based on the words entered and if the sender is feeling happy or confused, tenacious or satisfied, Swype tends to get the right emoji to suit the mood.

The Qwerty, Qwertz and Azerty keyboard layout for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch user with iOS 8 and new layout especially for iPad makes it easy to Swype whichever way it is held. All of the Swype’s built in themes are made available for the iPad and users of tablets could choose from the choice of Dark, Light, Sand, Earth and Sun for a different look and feel to the keyboard while other third party keyboards for iOS 8 include Fleksy, Ginger, and SwiftKey keyboard. The app is available at $1 in Apple’s App Store.