Apple TV

I have been using my Apple TV for the past couple of weeks, since I received it as a Christmas present. It is the latest product I have in, what has been called, my Apple family, This is a quick review for those of you who may be considering getting one.

On the face of it, the product is really good. Providing you have a wireless broadband connection in your house, it can be extremely useful. You can use it to access online video sites like YouTube and if you have a Flickr account, you can also run a complex slideshow of your work or some of the people you have friended on the site.

In term of your own home videos and music, it is important to know that in order to view these your computer must be on and connected to the home network. You must also have home sharing active and your iTunes software active. If you want to view actual movies, the best way is to purchase them on iTunes at the iTunes store, you can also acquire digital versions from DVDs, where they advertise an iTunes version as being available with the purchase of the DVD. Some BluRay formats now come as triple play formats (this includes BluRay, DVD and iTunes version). It is not possible (at the moment, and probably due to copyright laws) to directly transfer DVDs directly to iTunes. There are plenty of software titles that can transfer DVD to AVI and there are also titles online that can convert AVI to MP4.

What else can you do with the Apple TV? Well if you have an iPhone or iPad, you can use an app called remote. This app was originally developed so that you can control the iTunes software from your chosen device. The advantage of using this app with your Apple TV is that the controller can interfere with any Apple computer or laptop within its range, where as the app is designed to be device specific. The iPhone or iPad’s virtual keyboard can come in handy for password protection functions and with the iPad, you can select a movie or music file by scrolling through the selection.

I will be looking at options that will allow the Apple TV to be used more efficiently in a business environment. I have some thoughts, and will share these with all those who read these blogs. My overall opinion of the Apple TV is its a fantastic tool, and can improve your TV viewing options. I am sure that the future of movie and music purchases will be online, and this device is all set for them.

Multi-tasking on iPhone or iPad

The multi-tasking option was properly introduced to the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad when IOS 4.2 was released later in 2010. This allows the user to access various apps that are running simultaneously. It comes in very useful when copying and pasting information from one app to another.

How do I access multitasking?
To access multitasking you simply double tap the central button at the bottom of your iPhone or iPad. The screen then appears to slide upward, revealing a selection of apps that are running in the background. Simply tap one of the active apps and the app will suddenly run. If the app is properly set up to work in a multitasking mode, you will not be presented with a splash screen, just whatever the last thing you were doing on the associated app.
How do I disable these apps?
To disable these hold your finger over one of the activated apps for a few seconds, until they start to wobble. When they wobble a minus sign should appear in the corner the app. Tapping on this minus sign does not remove the app from the device, it just turns it off.
Why would I want to disable some of my active apps?
Some apps, when running in the background can drain the power from your device. Further to this, they can also inhibit the function of other apps and slow down the performance of your device.

Snowed in and still able to use my iPad

I’ve now been snowed in Cornwall for 3 days, and if it wasn’t for my iPad I would not have efficiently been able to remotely manage my business. Today I have managed to rearrange customer’s appointments, I have been able to monitor the progress of some of my students and I am now writing this blog.

Granted, I could’ve done this using my iPhone, but the keyboard on the iPad is more manageable and it’s slightly more frustrating dealing with the smaller screen on the iPhone.

It does help to have an Internet connection, though. I own the iPad wifi, and as well as working on it, I have been able to keep up to date on current affair through the news apps, listen to some music and watch some episodes I added before our trip.

For me the iPad has been a lifesaver and has enabled me to achieve some of the things I would’ve needed a laptop for, without the weight or inconvenience.

Switching between Software titles in OS X

To switch between active software titles hold the cmd key and press the tab key.  This will allow you to select which title you wish to use by releasing the keys once you have selected the programme you wish to use.  If you wish to reverse the selection (this is quite useful when you have several packages open simultaneously) hold the shift key as well as the cmd key and press tab and the selection will run from right to left.

Quick tip:

⌘⇥ (cmd+tab) left to right

⇧⌘⇥ (shift+cmd+tab) right to left

Getting Screenshots in Apple OS X

I was contemplating creating a document that required me to use screenshots as examples.  I found the solution all too easy, and I have now decided to provide everyone with the solution, to help save time.

⌘⇧3 (cmd+shift+3)
Takes a photo of the entire screen, as it looks.  Ideal for full screen demonstrations.  It then saves the file on the desktop as a PNG file.

⌘Ctrl⇧3 (cmd+ctrl+shift+3)
As with the previous example, however this time saving it to the clipboard to be pasted into another program.

⌘⇧4 (cmd+shift+4)
This allows you to select an area.  Once pressed the cursor changes to a crosshair, then drag the crosshair, like drawing a box, and once you have released the mouse button, a new PNG file will appear on the desktop.

⌘⇧4 then space key (cmd+shift+4 then space)
This will allow you to select an available window and then take a snapshot of it.  This is a great tool for taking a screenshot for the purpose of  creating screenshots of a specific program, with nothing else visable.

I am certain there are other ways of creating screenshots, so if you know of any please feel free to add them in your comments.

Where’s the # key on the UK Mac keyboard

One of the first things that flummoxed me when I first started using the Mac what where was the # key.  Suffice to say I have no problem with using it now, but as a newbie it was frustrating, specially as I use Twitter on a regular basis.  Well, here it is:

Press the Alt key on your keyboard, located on the bottom row, either side of the space bar (that’s the long one, if you are not sure) and then press the number 3, voila.

Quick Tip:

Keystroke is: ⎇ 3