Concordia's Mac Folks

Next version of OSX

2010-10-18T08:52:00.000-05:00

Apple is holding a media event this Wednesday to discuss the next version of OSX. Supposedly there's a "revolutionary new feature" that may be revealed. I'm intrigued by that, however what will be revealed for sure, will be FaceTime for OSX. I assume through iChat, however it could be integrated into the OS somehow. We'll see Wednesday!

My predictions for WWDC10

2010-06-07T10:15:00.011-05:00

Today's the day we officially find out what the next year holds for us, our phones, and our music. As Gizmodo already found out for us, the next iPhone will have a front facing camera that will change the way we communicate on mobile devices. But what else does Steve Jobs have in store for us today??? Here are a few of my predictions:

- The next iPhone will be called the iPhone HD (I WAS WRONG - It's called iPhone 4)
- iPhone OS 4.0 will be available to be downloaded TODAY (helps offset the load that Apple is about to take on) (I WAS WRONG)
- iPhone HD 4 will be available to order sometime between today and the next week, for delivery on the 18th (I WAS WRONG ON DELIVERY DATE, BUT CORRECT ON THE ORDER AVAILABILITY)

I don't have any special sources like all of the tech blogs out there...but I am in need of one. :-)

TJ

iPhone Data Plans Change...But You Can Tether!

2010-06-02T10:10:00.000-05:00

From Macrumors...

AT&T's announcement of their new capped data plans has generated a lot of discussion amongst current and future iPhone owners. In short, AT&T eliminated their $30/month unlimited plan for new iPhone customers starting on June 7th. After that time, new iPhone (and other smartphone) customers have the option of $15/mo (200MB) and $25/mo (2GB) data plans. AT&T, however, has grandfathered in existing iPhone customers by allowing them to keep the $30/month unlimited plan if they desire.

But with the new iPhone just around the corner, several readers wondered if that guarantee would hold even if they chose to upgrade to the new iPhone. It seems like it will.

AT&T has replied on their Facebook page indicating that current customers may keep the $30/month unlimited plan even when they upgrade to a new iPhone:

The good news for current customers who love their unlimited plan is this: they are not required to switch, even when it's time to upgrade to a new phone. So you are welcome to keep your unlimited plan :)

Of course, by staying on the unlimited plan, customers won't be able to add on tethering service. See our previous coverage of the new pricing plans for further details.

iPad, GPS, next iPhone...

2010-03-30T16:51:00.000-05:00

We're only a few days away from the official launch of Apple's iPad and it seems like stores a preparing for a big day. iPads will be available beginning April 3, and you'll be able to pick one up at any Apple Store, and "most" Best Buy locations. Apple just released iTunes 9.1 to support the iPad, and they've changed the "Audiobook" section to just "Books." Makes sense to me! Will you be getting one? Let me know in the comments.

Mapquest has a great app that offers FREE turn by turn voice guided GPS. It's a lot like the included Maps program on the iPhone, but having that little voice to guide you is always nice. iTunes Store link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mapquest-4-mobile/id316126557?mt=8

Ahh, the next iPhone. If Apple is true to its previous schedule, we'll see the next iPhone released late June to mid-July. The word around the water cooler is that it'll be announced June 22 and called iPhone HD. It could have a screen with double the resolution, a better camera, and a front facing camera for video chat. This is all speculation, however there's not much else the iPhone needs right now. Adding these features will put it years ahead of all the other phones that are just now catching up. Let's hope I can start v-blogging for you! (Actually, no one would want to see that...nevermind).

The Origin of Force Quit

2010-03-02T09:06:00.000-06:00

iDon't Know

2010-02-02T10:42:00.000-06:00

There seems to be new speculation around the iPad. Folks are saying it's possible the iPad could have a hidden secret...a camera! Is it possible Apple has hidden features that will only be revealed when the iPad is released??? Doubtful, however I suppose it's possible. Why do they think there's a hidden camera? One reason is because of the screen grab below.

(image from engadget.com)

The red arrow is pointing to a camera in the iPad. There's no doubt Apple has multiple versions of the iPad floating around. They want to test possible features so they can release the best product. So this could be one of the prototypes Apple has lying around; or, it could be a secret hidden feature that will have a glorious unveiling right before the release.

We'll know the juicy details in a couple ~~long~~ short months. Until then, we can keep speculating on what Steve Jobs meant when he said the "Next iPhone coming is an A+ update."

iPad

2010-01-29T16:48:00.001-06:00

Well the long awaited Apple Tablet has arrived!! Well, it's sort of a tablet. It's not what the rest of the world would consider a tablet....yet. Right now, all of the tech blogs are hailing the iPad as an over-sized iPod Touch. Really, the only difference is screen size, speed, and the iWork suite (which is a separate purchase). So out of the box, it's a really big iPod Touch. However, the potential for this thing is huge!!

Apple released the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK Jan. 27. Already this OS has some potential to increase the value of the iPad.

OS 3.2 will have a Public Folder. The iPhone has been lacking this from day 1. With a public folder, you could conceivably save your iWork document to it, then open up that doc in a Print App and print it out. You could also save email attachments to the Public folder and then insert them into a Pages doc. This is a great addition!

You will also have the ability to hook up an external display so apps can can ouput whatever they want on a tv, monitor, or projector. This is really awesome for apps like Keynote (Apple's version of Powerpoint).

So far, the ability to run more than one application at a time isn't there. I feel confident this will come, but when, no one knows.

I'm sure with iPad2 will come more storage, and a couple of cameras to take photos with and for video conferencing. Once that occurs, this will be the best tablet available, and not just an over sized iPod Touch.

I'm really excited to see where the iPad goes, and I've been thinking a lot about its' role in the business market, as well as schools. There is huge potential. Let's hope Apple opens the doors.

Tablet...iPad???

2010-01-26T16:37:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is the big tablet announcement! If there was any doubt that it was going to be announced, the CEO of Mcgraw-Hill made a boo-boo on CNBC this afternoon. Check it out:

When asked about rumors that their textbooks will be on the Apple tablet, Terry McGraw responds

"Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they'll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now is we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you're going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific."

WHOOPS! Apple frowns on early leaks, however it's pretty hard to avoid now.

I'll be posting the latest news tomorrow after the event. The event begins @ 12pm Central time. Perhaps I need to prepare to start blogging on a tablet!!!!

Rumor Round-Up

2010-01-19T13:38:00.004-06:00

Hi all! So next Wednesday is Apple's annual January media event. The theme is "Come see our latest creation." So is this FINALLY the Tablet??? iPad?? iSlate?? Who knows?!? Supposedly iPhone OS 4.0 will be discussed as well. Here are my hopes for iPhone OS 4.0:

- Backgrounding allowed (multiple apps running simultaneously)

- "Forward As" feature, like Blackberry OS. (receive an email, forward as sms w/out copy/paste.

- Better battery life management

- Some sort of App organization (Folders for games, utilities...)

- Local file storage without using an app

- Bluetooth file sharing

- iChat video chat support!!!

That's all I have for now...When all is announced I'll copy/paste these ideas and see if any came to fruition.

note: These are all my thoughts and wishes...I didn't just take from the rumor mill, even though some will be the same.

LIVE streaming to iPhone

2010-01-10T08:46:00.002-06:00

I'm sure everyone knows this, but if you're out of town and would like to watch our listen to our Sunday morning services, you can stream them live to the iPhone. This works GREAT if you're driving in the car.....No, I'm not suggesting you watch the sermon while driving, but you can listen to it and it's still very effective. It works very well over 3G.

God bless you!

Browser Software

2010-01-08T16:49:00.003-06:00

Hi all! Recently, Google released Chrome web browser for Mac. It's still in beta, but it is wonderful! It's very fast. Go to http://www.google.com/chrome to download and try it out. You should still hang on to Firefox and/or Safari. Since Chrome is still beta, there are some sites that give it trouble, although only a few. Let us know what you think but posting a comment below!

Welcome!

2010-01-07T13:40:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone. This is the first entry on our Concordia blog that is all things Mac. We know there are a lot of folks at Concordia that would love to keep up with the latest iPhone updates, Mac news, and software releases, so we decided to create a place to keep up with it all!

We will post updates on this blog regularly, however there could be a week or two where there isn't much to post about. You can either add this RSS feed to your current RSS reader, or click "Follow" on the right to follow this blog using your Google account.

We look forward to continuing ministry with all of you, and may God bless you!

TJ Winters

Director of Media & I.T.

Concordia Lutheran Church - San Antonio, Texas