Palm-Mac

Noreve black leather case for MacBook Pro

Case mania goes on. I also purchased recently the Noreve black leather case for the MacBook Pro and have got to say I am very pleased with it. I must confess to liking stuff by Noreve, I had a case for my Blackberry Curve and Treo 680 from them and  thought they were very nice.

This is one of those slip type cases that will not offer much laptop protection if you drop the little beauty but the case itself is lovely. It's a very smooth, luxurious feeling soft leather with a nice light coloured and very soft inner light coloured fabric. The zip is also nice with a smooth action. It's a heck of a lot slimmer than the iSkin case but does not offer nearly as much protection. Fit in the case is quite tight initially and I had to squeeze the MBP in at first but it seems to have slacked off a bit since.

Build quality feels good, there is little exposed stitching and no sign of any loose threads. It really does look and feel nice, not to mention the lovely smell of new leather. It is about the same price as the iSkin Soho but feels a bit more luxurious and special. My one concern with this case though is that when the MBP is in the case it is all a bit tight and to get it zipped up is a bit of a squeeze to the point where the zip pushes the front of the MBP down so that the lid and bottom are touching. With my other cases there is no such pressure. It may be unimportant but it makes me feel worried in case the keyboard is now touching the screen when in the case. This could be a problem or it could just be me being over-cautious and I'm not so sure I want to take the gamble until the case loosens up a bit.

You can pick this online in the UK for around £50 or less.

Pro's

• lovely soft leather
• looks and feels superb
• nice soft interior
• nicely made

Con's

• not much protection in a drop
• case is a bit too tight?
• bit of force needed to zip it up

mobile.me

I got an email today from Apple regarding the mobile.me outages/slowness etc that plagued its launch at the end of last week, not that it affected me too much but at least they had the good grace to come out and say sorry. They also said they were dropping the "push" claim as apparantly there is some delay....

Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.

Can't say I noticed that mind you I've not exactly been testing it out with a stopwatch or anything. The only problem I have noticed is that if I delete an email on the iPhone it seems to re-appear shortly after as if it is being pushed...oops, can't use that word anymore, as if it is being errrrr.....sent back straight away. Or am I imagining that? Possibly, you have to go back into the  mobile.me website and delete it from there to avoid this happening?  The contacts and calendar thing works well though although I don't probably need these features.

Ecto for mac and other offline bloggers

Crikey, I seem to have tried an endless amount of these offline blogging applications over the past few months and can't seem to settle on one. Trouble is, they all have good points and some not so good points and the ideal solution would be taking the best of each and combining them in the one super-app. Why go for an off-line blogging tool? Purely for the ability to make posts for your weblog when you do not have internet access I suppose.

Unfortunately that is just not going to happen. I am swopping between two at the moment. MarsEdit and Ecto. The latter used to be shareware but has changed this year to donation ware. MarsEdit has the simpler interface and is the easier of the two to get up and running in terms of useage but I find it less easy to add in pictures for posts as editing their size seems to be a no-go in the application. In Ecto, handles appear at the picture corners enabling you to alter the image size to enable it to fit the post better. In addition, when using MarsEdit, when I put a line break in posts in the application this disappears after it has been uploaded. Unless I am missing something, you cannot save a post to your weblog as a draft post in MarsEdit either. You can save it as a draft in the app itself but when you publish that draft it gets posted straight away. I'd prefer just to be able to publish to the weblog as a draft and then post it later when appropriate.

I think that overall Ecto is slightly the better of the two but there is not much in it. Of course, the fact that it is free-ish as well gives it the nod. MarsEdit has too many little things missing for it to be the winner here.

GarageBuy for mac

I think this sounds quite good. It is made by the same people that make GarageSale which I use to set up any ebay stuff I am selling.

Are you looking for something on eBay but tired of eBay's slow web site? Finally there is a better way! Now you can use a slick, full-featured client application for all of your search and purchasing on eBay. Welcome to GarageBuy.

Searching eBay with ease. Finally, an application that looks the way it should (using the Mac's native interface) to help you find and purchase items on eBay.

GarageBuy can be dowloaded and used at no cost. You can download GarageBuy for free. All that's required is an eBay account and a Mac running Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

iPhone upgrades on o2

Well, o2 have handled this well. Not.

I got a text message this morning from o2 inviting me to upgrade online as an existing iPhone user. So, I logged on and entered all my details and ker-pow...nowt. Nope, a message came up telling me that they couldn't process any orders as there was a system fault. Try again later it said, so I did with the same result. of course they don't think to put the error message up front do they to save you the trouble of filling in the silly online order form.

Not to worry I thought...I tried again after tea only to be greeted with the message that they had none left due to 'huge demand" and to try again on the 10th July. How strange is that? How many did they have in the first place I wonder?

I'm not that bothered if I don't get one in time for the launch and can wait whether it takes 1,2 or more weeks after launch date. Okay, that's a lie.

iSkin SOHO MacBook Pro case

I'm not sure why I am doing these MacBook Pro case reviews as there are probably only about 3 people (including me) who read this site who use one...nevermind. This is a completely different case to the Speck SeeThru plastic one I also bought recently. This is a mock leather case, on the outside, with a soft, padded interior. It reminds me more of a briefcase style thing except it has no handle. It is quite thick and a major drawback for me and most likely a lot of other people is that its increased width and height means it doesn't fit in my STM 15inch shoulder bag. Actually, that's not strictly true as it does fit in but it sticks out the top meaning I can't close the interior bits with the velcro fastening although in fairness the outer lid does close. Make sure you have a big enough bag though.

This case does feel very sturdy though and when unzipped you can fold the lid back quite a way. The manufacturers "claim" that you can use the laptop in the case but I'm not so sure about that as there is no ventilation below your MacBook Pro so it may get a bit hot in there. They then go on to put a disclaimer on their site which effectively makes you wonder why they market it partly as being useable in the case in the first place. One thing that detracts though is that if you wanted to use the laptop in the case and were out and about and needed to use a usb modem stick to get internet access then you'd be stuck as you can't use the usb ports (or any other port for that matter) with the laptop in the case. To assist with this theoretical in case useage, there are a couple of straps in the top part of the case designed to hold the screen. It's easy to get the laptop in and out though and in no way does it feel at all loose, in fact it feels very snug. There is obviously some reinforcing inside the case and when you knock it with your fist it feels quite strong. I imagine this would offer a degree of protection if dropped. It certainly adds a bit of weight and with the MacBook Pro tucked up inside it's a heavy combination. It could do with a carrying handle like some other similar cases I have seen. In summary then, not that anybody gives a toss:

Pros -  sturdy well made case that feels it will last the course, nicely cushioned inside, useable in the case?, decent protection

Against - heavy and adds considerable girth to your slim MacBook Pro, not real leather (could be a pro actually if you are animal friendly), cannot access any ports when in the case, may not fit in your 15 inch shoulder bag without sticking out the top

The case is available online for around £45 in the UK.

dougscripts for iTunes

Sometimes iTunes can be a pain, especially if you need to do a whole lot of changing playlists or deleting duplicates from playlists or whatever. Luckily, Doug has made up a whole lot of AppleScripts to try and make these sort of mundane tasks simpler and a heck of a lot faster.

You can browse the categories on the site to find scripts that may be of use and there is also a running list of the ten newest.

Books 3.1.9 for mac

This is a free mac application for keeping a record of all your books.

Books 3.1.10 is a free Cocoa application for OS X that helps you manage your personal book collection. It makes it simple to enter new books, edit the information of older books and sort the books by attributes such as title and author. It also includes support for importing/exporting collection information in HTML or XML formats.

MacBook Pro cases...Speck hard case

When I bought the Pro a couple of weeks ago I was given a "free" case from Cancom in Edinburgh and I suspect it was one from their "bottom of the range" selection. It is one of those very soft and slightly odd feeling pouch style cases. The good thing about it is it is light, relatively thin so I can still put the MacBook Pro in my shoulder bag and get the velcro flaps on the STM bag fastened. The bad things are that it would offer no protection at all should you drop your laptop as it is flimsy and the material is the type that makes it hard to keep clean, bits of dust and things seem to stick to it like there is no tomorrow. 

I had a look around for alternatives. First up was the Speck plastic see through hard case. I'm never that sure about these types of cases as my main concern is that I l'm not that keen on cases that are meant to stay on all the time, I prefer cases that you can slip on and off or in and out when needed. Anyway, the Speck case fits very well and has cutouts, as you would expect, for all the main ports and it all lined up very easily. The battery cover however is completely covered so if you need to access the battery or memory then the bottom of the case needs to come off. Getting the case on was pretty easy, a bit of pressing here and a bit of pushing there and it was on and felt very sturdy. Getting it off however was not quite so simple and I was in fear of either bending it too much and cracking it or even worse, scratching the MBP getting it off. That made me a little anxious.

It comes in two seperate bits so in theory you could have just the bottom or top bit on if you prefer and the two bits are not dependant, fit wise, on each other.

Another couple of little annoyances with the case. As it is see through you can....ahem...see through the case. Which means if you don't clean it properly you will be looking through the case to see bits of dust and stuff trapped, as if stuck below ice, which is psychologically potentially damaging and makes you want to take it off and try again...and again...and again until all the dust is finally off. It also seems to want to clip over the grey trim that surrounds the MBP case and when pulling the case off I could see that trim flexing which was not a nice experience. Still, I suppose it shows how tightly fitting the case is when it's on which is a plus....I think.

Plus points are many though. It fits very well, it does not add much bulk, it will offer some decent protection to the outside of the MBP in a fall although I can't promise the same about the innards. If you can get it on without any dust being trapped and you like the idea of a 100% on case that offers very sturdy protection then this would be one to consider.

Available online for around £35 to £40.

Overall then:

Plus Points

• sturdy protection against scratching although getting the bottom bit off is a worrying experience
• relatively thin so does not add much bulk
• see through colour (out of several colour options) shows off your MBP
• access to all usb ports etc as the case fits very well
• you could have one or both parts on

Not quite so good

• bottom part of case covers battery and needs to come off if you need to access it
• it is a struggle getting the bottom bit off
• make sure there is no dirt of fluff trapped when you put it on!
• pricey for two bits of plastic?

summer 2008 and smartphone expectations are high

Here we go for the big defining summer in the smartphone world, hopes are high for a raft of high profile new devices and it looks like Nokia are getting the first blow in with the much anticipated E71. This is showing on various retailer sites as coming in the next week or so. It's another treo lookalike which a lot of people now seem to agree is the definitive smartphone shape. Symbian devices and Nokia in particular come loaded with amazing specs and fantastic cameras but are often let down by shoddy useablity and at times, an unfathomable menu system....looking to find that setting to change something quickly? Forget it, it is just part of the charm of Symbian and you had just better get used to it if you intend to persevere.

Next up is the 3g iPhone. Will it deliver what it promises? People talk about the impressive battery life which is quoted as being best in class. Yep, only problem is that comes from Apple's mouth and nobody in the real world is yet to really test it out. We should all know by now to take what manufacturers say with a pinch of salt especially when it comes to quoted battery life. Still, this is the one I am banking on for my longer term smartphone useage. When 3rd party apps roll out, despite what my chum Shaun says at pda247, it will be a smartphone.

The HTC Diamond is already out yet seems to be hampered by the memory requirements of the much touted TouchFlo, judging by what I have read and some have already disabled it to speed up the phone. Doesn't that just sum up windows mobile? Lots of great ideas but things never seem to work just as you would expect or hope and you end up only being able to use certain bits, disabling things just to get it working in an acceptable manner.

Regrettably I feel obliged to mention the Sony Experia. I'll be honest here, I don't like Sony phones. I have had four in the past couple of years and each has been a pile of poo. What annoys me is that they haven't brough anything remotely interesting to the market for years yet people have this Sony adulation thing , totally unjustified, going on. It has been an endless procession of minor updates to their awful Walkman phone range. I defy anyone on a mac to say they have found it enjoyable and stress free getting their music collection across to a Sony phone or any other info for that matter.

What's even worse is they harp on about their Sony palm clie's like they were still cutting edge today. I had a UX50 which was rendered near unuseable owing to truly appalling battery life and a dreadful keyboard. It's the only device I have owned where you could see the battery percentage wilting right in front of you by the second. Sony had a whole raft of palm devices out yet they didn't sell because they didn't appreciate what palm users were after...simplicity and a light pocketable form factor. It's like they were trying to bring windows mobile to the palm market, over complicated specs in brick like shapes.

Over the past 5 years Apple has give us the iPod, MacBook Air, iPhone....genuinely innovative devices whereas Sony has brought nothing that you can't get from Canon or Nokia or any other maker of similarly competing electrical devices. Didn't they also have some awful failed music selling iTunes competing fiaso  which just sums them up over the past few years? So there, nothing personal of course you understand. The Xperia needs to do something for them or else their reputation falls even further lower down the cool pecking order.

Last and hopefully not least there will be the new palm windows treo devices. I hope these do well and are well received although I can't see myself getting one, which will be a first for me on the palm front. They certainly need to be better than the disappointing treo 500v which has deservedly bombed so far. The days or the special palm "sauce' are nearing an end as other smartphone makers have introduced their own ketchups which have made their devices simpler to use. Can palm come up with new features that enhance useage? It's doubtful based on their recent lacklustre device efforts but as ever, palm devotees remain hopeful.