Kingston HyperX 3K (240GB) SSD Review

With OCZ intent on moving as much volume to its in-house Indilinx controllers as possible, SandForce (now LSI) needed to expand to additional partners. OCZ has strong control over the channel so SandForce needed to turn to multiple partners to diversify its portfolio. One key win for SandForce was Kingston. We saw the launch of the first Kingston SandForce (SF-2281) based drive last year under the HyperX brand. Today Kingston is announcing a lower cost version of the drive with the HyperX 3K.

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Is It Better to Shut Down, Sleep, or Leave a Mac Turned On When Not Being Used?

When it’s not in use, do you shut down your Mac, put it to sleep, or just keep it turned on? Is one choice better than the others? Why and why not? These are great questions, so let us review the choices and why you may want to choose one over the other.

Sleeping a Mac

This is my preferred choice because it provides for the easiest and fastest way to resume work while still maintaining hardware. It’s practically instantaneous to sleep a Mac and when you wake it up all of your open apps, documents, window arrangements, and web pages, are exactly where you left off with practically no delay. For the average Mac user who wants to quickly get back to what they were doing, sleeping is perfect.

• Pros: Quickly resume exactly where you left off; sleep and wake can be scheduled or even done remotely
• Cons: Minor power consumption; system temp, swap, and cache files don’t get cleared out during reboot process; system updates requiring reboots don’t install automatically without a manual reboot; performance is best for Macs with 4GB RAM or more

If you use the Mac every day, simply putting it to sleep when it’s not in use or overnight is probably the best choice. Just be sure to remember to reboot every once in a while to allow system software updates to install as part of a general maintenance routine, though waiting for an OS X Update or Security Update is generally a sufficient time between reboots. You can also gather some gigantic uptimes with this approach which is pretty much a useless statistic other than the nerdy bragging rights, (I’m currently at 35 days, weeeee!) but hey it’s fun to check anyway.

Shutting the Mac Down

I basically never shut down a Mac unless it’s going into a longer term state of inactivity or storage. Shutting down a Mac is slower since all open applications and documents have to quit, and then when you turn the machine back on everything has to re-open again to get back to where you were prior to shutdown. OS X Lion made resuming past application states much simpler with the automatic window restore feature (which some dislike and choose to disable), but I still find it too slow to be usable for my instant-on demands.

• Pros: Saves power, doesn’t strain hardware; system temp, memory, swap, and cache files get cleared out during boot; allows for major system updates to install
• Cons: Takes a while to boot up and resume previous activity, no geeky uptime bragging rights

For the power conscious or for those trying to squeeze the absolute longest lifespan out of hardware and hard disks, shutting down when not in use is the best choice. This is also what you’ll want to do if you’re going to put a Mac in longterm storage, won’t be using it for a longer than a few days, or if you’re going to be traveling with a Mac that isn’t in use during the travel period.

Keeping a Mac Always Turned On

Leaving a Mac constantly turned on is another viable option, though I think it’s best reserved for Macs that function as servers. This approach also carries the most polar advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you don’t have to bother resuming anything since it’s already on, you can schedule all maintenance and backup tasks to occur in the wee hours of system inactivity, and it allows for something like a constantly available SSH server or media center to be running on the machine. The downsides are basically the constant power consumption and the constantly active hardware, which can limit overall lifespans of the computer components.

• Pros: No waiting for use; instantly resume all apps and tasks exactly where you left off; allows for servers to run with constant accessibility; backup and system maintenance tasks can be scheduled for off hours
• Cons: Constant power consumption; more wear and tear on hard drives, fans, and physical hardware due to possible heat

If you’re running a server or media center, leaving a Mac turned on constantly is a no brainer. For the casual Mac user, it’s probably best to put a Mac to sleep when it’s not in use though, it gives hard drives and fans a rest, and will generally lead to a longer lifespan of the computer.

Enable Half-Star Ratings in iTunes

iTunes allows users to rate songs on a 1 star to 5 star basis, song rating data can then be used for a variety of purposes, either for your own reference or for creating custom play lists that only include songs rated over a certain star value. But what if a song is somewhere in the middle of the rating scale, not quite worthy of 4 stars but not a 3 star song either? For more precise personal ratings, enable the half-star rating option in iTunes.

Launch the Terminal, found within the /Applications/Utilities/ directory, and enter the following defaults write command:

defaults write com.apple.iTunes allow-half-stars -bool TRUE

Quit and relaunch iTunes for changes to take effect. To give something a half star, click and slide the star rating scale until the 1/2 value shows.

To remove the half-star rating option use the following defaults command and then relaunch iTunes again:

defaults delete com.apple.iTunes allow-half-stars

Removing the half stars moves the song rating to the star below it, so a 3 1/2 star song would turn into a 3 star song, and so on.

iOS Web Traffic Trumps Mac OS X For The First Time

According to a new report, iOS web traffic has surpassed Mac OS X for the first time in history. iOS market share has grown nearly 50% over the last 6 months, and Apple’s mobile products are now driving more web traffic while the Mac’s traffic share has declined.

Analytics and advertising firm Chitika examined web traffic across 100,000 popular websites and came to the conclusion that iOS activity is on a sharp upwards trend. This month web traffic from iOS devices reached 8.15%, and the Mac declined to 7.96%. Not a huge gap, but iOS is seeing exponential growth while Mac OS X is not.

The data shows that the web market shares of iOS and OS X have been converging steadily since August. iOS has been posting regular gains, and has experienced an overall growth of nearly 50%, whereas OS X has seen its market share decline by 25% since a high point in September. February marks the first point where a reversal in position can be seen in the respective operating systems. iOS passes Mac OS with 8.15% of all web traffic, whereas Mac OS only sees 7.96%.

Apple has established itself as the top smartphone vendor worldwide. 2011 was a record-breaking year for iOS device sales, with Apple selling 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads last quarter alone. Both the iPhone and iPad have seen over 100% increases in year-over-year growth since 2010. Mac sales are also increasing, but not by such a high rate. Apple reported a 25% year-over-year increase in Mac sales last quarter.

The web can be a good way to gauge the dominance of a certain platform. Google has noted in the past that iOS devices account for the majority of its web search queries. While Chitika’s findings are not completely conclusive, the report does mirror Apple’s strategy moving forward. We’re in a ‘post-PC’ era, and mobile is the future.

Apple Sues Back At Motorola Over Qualcomm License Agreement

As Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility waits for approval from the courts, Apple has fired back at Motorola in the U.S. over a licensing agreement with chipset-maker Qualcomm.

Motorola recently sued Apple over wireless technology in its iOS devices with a patent that Apple is now using to cite the licensing violation with Qualcomm. The retaliation from Apple is meant to suffocate any patent violation claims that Motorola was asserting before to the courts.

The iPhone 4S was briefly banned in Germany last month following a suit from Motorola, and Apple is now arguing that its agreement with Qualcomm covers any alleged patent infringement that Motorola may have proposed to the courts.

Reuters explains:

Apple says that as a Qualcomm customer, Apple is a third-party beneficiary of Motorola’s agreement with Qualcomm. Under that agreement, Motorola’s rights under certain patents are exhausted, Apple argues.

According to Apple, Motorola doesn’t have a right to call foul on the wireless technology patents used in Qualcomm chip-equipped iOS devices.

Microsoft details Windows 8 for ARM devices

Microsoft has released technical design details about the new version of Windows for devices that use ARM chips, outlining in a lengthy blog post different ways in which this OS, called WOA and still in the works, will be alike and different from existing versions of Windows.

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Redesigned MacBook Pro Lineup to be Revealed This Year?

The entire MacBook Pro lineup will be redesigned “radically” this year to more closely resemble the MacBook Air, according to a new report from AppleInsider. Citing a source who says “they’re all going to look like MacBook Airs,” AppleInsider also suggests the MacBook Pro 15″ will likely be the first of the bunch to be redesigned, and will feature the removal of older technologies like the traditional hard disk drive and optical drives, in favor of digital distribution and SSD drives.

Assuming the latest report lines up with past rumors and reports, here is what we could possibly see from a refreshed MacBook Pro line this year:

• Thin and light MacBook Air inspired design
• Dual Core & Quad Core Ivy Bridge CPU’s with speeds up to 2.9GHz
• An ultra high resolution display at 2880×1800
• SSD drive to replace the traditional hard drives
• Removal of the optical drive
• Longer battery life
• Emphasis on digital distribution for software installation

Taiwanese trade publication Digitimes previously suggested that a new MacBook Pro (or Air) 15″ model may come in March, which would coincide nicely with the iPad 3 rollout. If the suspected high resolution display was included, it would also help to resolve the issue of designing for a retina iPad resolution on the currently smaller screen resolutions offered with Mac laptops.

Steve Jobs to be inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame

The One Club for Art and Copy said it will induct Apple co-founder Steve Jobs into the Creative Hall of Fame on January 17, 2012 at an event in New York City.

According to the hall of fame, Jobs will “honored for a lifetime of contributions to design, branding and communications. As a visionary leader, his passion for design not only created products that changed the way we interact with technology and media, but changed the way we create content in media.”

The organization also said that “since 1984 the One Show has awarded over 100 pieces of advertising and design created and produced for Apple by Apple’s design team and by the long and storied partnership with Chiat/Day, which continues today with TBWA\Media Arts Lab.”

You can purchase tickets to the event $500 per person.

Galaxy Nexus web benchmarks outpace iPhone 4S as 'Woz' picks up early copy

Early web benchmarks for the Galaxy Nexus show that the flagship smartphone outperforms Apple's iPhone 4S in some areas, while Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has been spotted picking up a copy of the Galaxy Nexus at Google's headquarters.

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Listen To Live Radio On Your iOS Device With TuneIn Radio

One of the best things about Apple’s iPod nano is its radio app that allows you to listen to live radio anytime, anywhere. Unfortunately, we don’t get that feature with the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad… unless we use third-party apps.

TuneIn Radio allows you to listen live to over 50,000 stations around the world, pause and rewind your favorite shows, share stations and songs on social networks, and a whole lot more. Here’s how to get started.

First of all, download the TuneIn Radio app from the App Store. There’s a free version which will be perfect for most of you, but if you’d like to record radio shows on your device, you’ll need to get TuneIn Radio Pro which is $0.99.

Now that it’s installed, open up the app and tap on the ‘Browse’ tab at the bottom. Here you can search for local stations, check out the stations you listened to recently (though you won’t have any if this is your first time), browse stations by music genre, sports, and more. Alternatively, simply type the name of your favorite station into the search box at the top to find it.

Once you’ve tuned into a station, you’ll want to save it so that you have quick access to it next time you use TuneIn. To do this, simply tap on the favorite icon in the top corner. To share a station with your friends, tap the mail icon, and to rewind a show by 10 seconds, tap the rewind icon.

If you’ve got the Pro version on TuneIn and you’d like to record a show, tap the record button in the tray at the bottom. You’ll have to leave the station playing to record it, but you can close the app and do other things while it records in the background. You can then access your recordings using the ‘Recordings’ tab at the bottom.

Finally, if you’d like to use TuneIn Radio in the car, there’s a handy car mode that provides you with extra large buttons for easy control. Simply tap the car icon within the ‘Browse’ menu to activate it. (And of course, remember to be safe if you’re using TuneIn in the car, and don’t attempt to control your device while you’re driving if local laws don’t allow it.)