Laptops

Tablets have been around for many years, nearly as long as laptops. I have been using one since 2001 and they were pretty uncommon at this point but apple first made and manufactured a tablet in the 1980s. With their latest product due to release in the next few months being the Apple iPad.

It seems in the last couple of months many tablet PCs have been announced and ready to be sold. All in one go? (Possibly due to the fuss over the Apple iPad.) Almost like a tablet takeover.

Will tablets be the next big thing, or just an extra accessory to the laptop. I believe that laptops will never be replaced by tablets due to the lack of keyboard, and the ability to efficiently include all the hardware a laptop does inside the screen of a tablet, along with good enough battery life.
There have in the last 3 months been 12 Tablets announced from various different company’s. Many to rival the new Apple iPad……

1. Apple iPad
2. ExoPC Slate
3. HP Touchsmart TM2
4. X2 iTablet
5. Lenovo IdeaPad S10
6. HP iSlate
7. Digital Rise X9
8. Lenovo Thinkpad X201
9. Lenovo Thinkpad X201t
10. Acer Aspire 1820PT
11. Panasonic Toughbook C1
12. Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3T

This was with only a quick scan of the internet. There are properly many more with a bit more search. Also only being 2 months into the new year I am sure there will be more released before the end of the year.

Time will tell who gets the advantage. My bets are on Apple as they have created so much build up to this product and the number of pre-orders Apple are expecting to take.

But why the sudden need for Tablets? Why only now after being available for many years are they beginning to be everywhere, with all companies getting in the Tablet industry?

So today I received my copy of hidden for Mac. The software which tracks your mac and sends you all the relevant information on retrieving your macbook. This is my first blog about the software after installing it. I have been running it for several hours now. So here is what I think about the software….

The install
Installing the software was easy. Just logged into my account from the online website, and added my computer by putting the name and serial number of my machine. Once the machine was added just clicked the download link and installed the mpkg. (Mac Package)
There was however a restart which in my opinion always bugs me, having to close all my open applications and reboot. But just my opinion! Not fault of the software!

So overall the experience of installing and adding a computer was easy and simple. Couldn’t have been better.

Control Panel
So the place where it all happens is the online control panel, accessible from any device with web capabilities. Including iPhone and iPod touch.

The control panel home is easy to see whats going on and where everything is. Shows you a simple table with your computers, the status of the software and the last update it received. Also with the option to set your mac to Stolen or Not Stolen.

If set to Not Stolen the software simply ignores everything and things continue as normal.

So to see how well this software works I set the status of my macbook to stolen. When set to stolen thats when the power of the software starts to work. The status goes to “Collecting Information” I saw the iSight green light activate for a few seconds and within a small amount of time, under 10 minutes for me, I could view a map of where my macbook was with a accuracy of ±122m. Also under this map it gave me a mug shot of the thief and a screenshot of what they were up to, in this case it was me but would be the thief if it was really stolen.

The thumbnails are possible to click and then shows a full sized view of either the picture of the screenshot.

Ok but what exactly can you do with this information? How is it going to help you get your mac back?

Well a map is only good if you know where that location is! A screenshot is only good if the thief fills out their full name, address and some times for you to come to collect your mac. (Which I don’t think their going to do.)

But there is more information hidden gives you..

Public IP address
Traceroute
Ifconfig

With these it is possible to pin point the location of your mac to a single building. If you contact the police with this information they will be able to contact the ISP and locate the mac.

This is definitely worth $20, simple, easy and just works!

It is also recommended that you add you wifi to the Skyhook Database as the more wifi spots are registered the higher the accuracy of your mac.

Will keep posting more about this software as it develops. Gets 10 / 10 from me! Reasonable price, enough functions and simple to use.

There seems to be a number of software on the market to be able to track your precious Macs. However they all seem to want a yearly charge and of course this isn’t cheap. I sometimes think that just having a password and a screensaver lock is enough and alot cheaper than paying for software. So whilst the screensaver lock won’t show me where my macbook is. It’s insured! But what about the data? Well i’ll loose that as I don’t see paying $40 to keep an eye on it for the ‘chance’ that my macbook may get stolen.

Unless your a little silly and keep forgetting where you put your macbook, or are not aware that what your doing is actually attracting thieves, then like me is $40 a year from some companies worth it?

Well now theres a cheap and brilliant way to do just this for only $20 per computer. (I don’t know about you but I only need one macbook )

You may be thinking this software must be lacking something the more expensive ones don’t….

Well the truth is it doesn’t. In fact I have done some research and found one company wanting $48 per year, and it does no more than what hidden does. hidden seems to have a nicer interface, easier to use and more of an appropriate price.

Some features of hidden include…

Take an iSight photo of your thief in action!
If your Mac has an iSight camera, hidden will transmit pictures of the thief and his surroundings with every update, making it even easier to recover your laptop. They can run, but they can’t hide.

Locate your computer using google maps
Hidden uses advanced WiFi positioning technology to locate your computer anywhere on the planet. The global coordinates are displayed on a map as your computer moves around.

Track your mac using the easy to use Control Panel!
View the location of your laptop on google maps along with photos of the thief in action in your web based tracking control panel. I can also add that this is extremely easy to use! Unlike some in the past I have seen!

See what’s happening on your Macbook!
Hidden will take screen shots of your stolen computer so you can see what the thief is doing and wait for them to reveal their identity.

This is the best way in my opinion to track, view and reveal your mac, if and when it gets stolen.

The Macbook Pro family are portable computers designed with usability in mind. The Macbook pro holds so much new and inovitive technology inside to make work and projects simply and fun to complete.

With upto 10 hours of battery life they can be used in many many areas, from on a plane to during a day at school or college. With no need to worry about the battery running flat.

The new Macbook pros have a brand new touchpad which makes using a trackpad fun and easy. With multi touch, two finger scrolling, pinch and grab, 4 finger swipe and many other gestures.

The other family of macbooks are the white generation which are seen as entry level macbooks. These are great for every day use and even some advanced applications.

The new white macbook also includes the multi touch trackpad.

All generation of macbooks feature a Mag-Safe power adapter which means damage to the power lead is minimised. If the cord is pulled on with a force it simply drops out of its dock. Rather than tugging on the cable or pulling the precious macbook off the table.

All macbooks also feature a iSight camera ideal for IM applications such as Skype. It also makes video vonfrencing fun and easy. With other software to create effects such as PhotoBooth.