Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

KB Dog

  • Watch this Space

    Apple announced new finishes on the Apple Watch and some new colors of Sport bands. The new colors in anodized aluminum are gold and rose gold.

    Perhaps more significantly, Apple announced that watch OS 2 will be released to the public on September 16. It features native third-party apps, third party complications, new watch faces and the landscape nightstand alarm clock mode. It also allows for activation lock, FaceTime audio calls and and improved Siri.

  • iPad Pro Extends the iPad Line

    Apple didn’t talk too much about the new iPad mini 4 that was introduced at the event but I see one in my future. It is thinner and lighter and has the 7.9-inch Retina display, A8 processor, Touch ID and an 8MP iSight camera. Adding 802.11ac wireless gives you wicked fast wireless access on your wi-fi network.

    But the big news was the iPad Pro. It features a beautiful 12.9 inch Retina display with 2732 by 2048 resolution with 5.6 million pixels for rich details in photos and incredibly sharp text, too. It features a new A9x chip with 1.8 times the CPU and 2 times the graphics performance of the iPad Air 2 while maintaining a 10-hour battery life. It has 4-speaker audio which is sensitive to whether you are holding the iPad Pro in landscape or portrait mode to play the lower frequencies on the all four speakers while the mid and high frequencies are played on the two top speakers.

    It is just 6.9mm thick and weighs in at 1.57 pounds.

    Apple showed the Apple Pencil (stylus) which is a very sensitive, pressure and tilt sensitive precise drawing instrument. They also show the Smart Keyboard which is a cover that is also a keyboard. Where have we seen that before? There is a new connector on the iPad Pro called the Smart Connector to exchange data and power so the keyboard does not need its own batteries or Bluetooth.

    The iPad Pro will be available in November in 32GB or 128GB at $799 or $949. A cellular version with 128GB storage is available for $1079. They come in Silver, Gold or Space Gray.

  • New Apple TV Changes How You Watch TV

    The new Apple TV features an all-new interface which in combination with the new Apple TV remote, your touch, your voice and Siri allow you to navigate faster. Siri will help you find shows, play music and you can search across multiple apps at once. Initially, it will search iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, HBO and Showtime with more to come.

    There is a new App store for Apple TV, too. This will allow you to download and buy content apps such as Netflix, games, other apps for shopping, etc. Apps are stored on the new Apple TV, hence the storage capacity choices of 32GB and 64GB. I can really see how with some new content apps from major networks and content providers that you can really cut the cable.

    The new Apple TV runs a new operating system called tvOS which supports Xcode and key iOS technologies and takes advantage of the new Apple TV user interface and touch capabilities.

    The new Apple TV has the same A8 64-bit chip as the iPhone 6 and comes with the new Siri Remote with touch surface for intuitive and contextual control. It has a built-in gyroscope and accelerometer for playing games and a Siri button for voice search. It connects by Bluetooth and also *finally* has the ability to control your TV or receiver via IR or CEC which will give you volume control via IR or volume, on-off, input with CEC.

    They have eliminated the digital audio port on the Apple TV which should not impact that many but it could make connecting to headphones somewhat of a challenge. The new Apple TV will be available in late October at $149 for the 32GB model and $199 for the 64GB model. The current Apple TV will remain in the line-up at $69. This should be one of the big holiday gifts this year!

  • 3D Touch Leads New iPhone 6s and 6s+

    New iPhones! Apple introduced the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s+. They look just like the iPhone 6 and 6+ but there are some significant advances. This is led off by the newly renamed “force touch” to “3D touch”. This is Apple’s proprietary multi-touch and pressure sensitive technology that senses how hard you are pressing on the screen to activate new software features. This is a pretty amazing engineering advancement. It is used with iOS 9 on the new iPhones to access shortcuts, preview content and other “peek and pop” things to dip in and out of your content without losing your place. You press lightly for a peek and deeper to pop into the full content. The new Taptic Engine gives you subtle tactile feedback to let you know when you have pressed enough.

    The camera was also updated, now with a 12MP iSight camera and 4k video. This is pretty amazing for the tiny camera in the iPhone 6s. One new feature that I think is pretty cool is Live Photos. Basically, when taking a 12MP photo you are taking a snippet of video before and after the actual photo so that when you use 3D Touch to press on a photo it comes to life with movement. The FaceTime or Selfie camera is 5MP and the iPhone 6s display acts as a flash, too.

    It is a faster iPhone, too, with Apple’s new A9 chip with up to 70% faster CPU and 90% faster graphics performance. The latest version of the Touch ID is said to be faster, too. They have improved the aluminum alloy used and introduced a new Rose Gold color.

    Apple also revealed some new cases in silicon and leather and iPhone lightning docks in colors that match the iPhone 6s and 6s+. The iPhone 6s starts at $199 with a 2-year carrier contract and the iPhone 6s+ starts at $299. They are available on Sept. 25.

    The iPhone 6 and 6+ as well as the iPhone 5s remain in Apple’s line-up, too.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    We said goodbye to Small Dog’s CDIC (Chief Dog in Charge) as Fantail Shrimp passed away after 15 years of tail wagging. We will miss the little black dog. Dogs are so important to all of us at Small Dog Electronics and it is always hard to see one of our love mirrors pass.

    “Hey Siri, give me a hint!” The big Apple reveal happened this week in San Francisco as Tim Cook and the Apple team took the stage to take the wraps off the latest goodies designed to improve our digital lives. There were new iPhones, a new iPad Pro, new AppleTV, new Apple Watch colors and bands, a new iPad mini and a lot of features and accessories displayed. I will go into all the new gear below but I did want to give my overall impressions of the announcements. Of course, Apple stock went down because of unrealistic expectations that every Apple announcement has to be ground breaking and so new that it staggers the imagination. That, ‘one more thing’ expectation is unrealistic as digital devices become such an integral part of our lives. While there may be new remarkable innovations and new categories in the future, the changes that Apple’s engineering and innovation teams have given us are very significant. The products, and perhaps more importantly the software, are significant in the evolution of devices that have become so much a part of our daily lives.

    Apple also took an important step in changing the paradigm of cell carrier subsidized phones. It has been the norm for many years that if you wanted a cell phone, be it an iPhone or any other, you went to the carrier of your choice, signed up for a 2-year contract and got the phone at a discounted price. The carrier basically charges you for the phone by folding that cost into the cost of service. Carriers have for the past few years been introducing their own finance plans that separate the cost of the phone from the cost of service but now Apple has taken it one step further. Now you can buy an unlocked iPhone from Apple that can be used on any cell carrier service and pay Apple a monthly payment of something like $30-$40 depending upon model. Once you buy the iPhone you can go to the carrier of your choice to get service, often on a month-to-month basis. Apple sweetened the deal considerably by including AppleCare+ which extends the 1-year Apple warranty and 90-days of tech support to two years and also adds accidental damage coverage at $99 per incident. To make it even better, Apple would like you to have a new iPhone every year so you can opt to reset the clock each year and get a new iPhone annually just by continuing to pay that fee. It is essentially a leasing program. The handwriting is on the wall; the cell carrier subsidized model is on its last legs and this is good news for consumers because cell carriers will now have to compete for your service.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special is on a fully loaded MacBook Air 13-inch. This features the Intel i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. This is the same as my super reliable MacBook Air and with the big SSD drive it should serve even the most demanding user. I am bundling a few things with this MacBook Air this week. I highly recommend AppleCare and we will include it as it takes that 1-year Apple warranty and extends it to 3-years but also extends the 90-days of free technical support from Apple to 3-years as well. We will add SafeWare accidental damage coverage for the 3-years, too. Oh, and one more thing…I will bundle a Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable 1TB drive just because I want your data always to be backed up and safe. So to review you get:

    * MacBook Air 13in 1.7GHz i7 8GB/512GB Apple Certified Refurbished
    * AppleCare Protection Plan
    * Safeware Accidental Damage Coverage
    * Seagate 1TB backup drive

    “*Normally this bundle is $1879 but for Kibbles & Bytes readers for this week only you can buy this for $150 off at $1729.99!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001944

  • I think there will be some motorcycle riding, corn eating and general relaxation this Labor Day weekend. All of our stores and offices will be closed on Labor Day but will reopen on Tuesday the 8th. Of course, our web site store never closes.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,

    _Don, Dean, Scott_

  • iPhone Photography with Olloclip

    Take your iPhone Photography to the next level with Olloclip!

    When I bought my first iPhone the biggest draw for me was the camera. I’m not a professional photographer, but like many I wanted snapshots to remember my travels, fun with friends, or a picture of the beautiful world in which we live. Either way I found I never carried the nice cameras I bought. When the sun set I would reach for my SLR or point and shoot and realize that nope, I didn’t bring it with me. “Real” cameras for me were just inconvenient to carry while trying to enjoy the activity. Not with an iPhone. We always have our phones on us, especially a nerd like myself. Whether I’m skiing, biking, hiking, driving in the car, etc… it’s in my pocket and ready to take beautiful photos.

    So when I heard about the “*Olloclip*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/?mmfg%5B0%5D=Olloclip and its line of lens adapters for the iPhone I was very excited. These aren’t massive lenses that attach to an SLR, but rather a small package that includes a 4-in-1 Fisheye, Wide Angle, and Macro at 10x or 15x. They most recently introduced their active lens which has a Super Wide Angle and 2x Telephoto. Being a gear-head I of course bought both.

    !{display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;}http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4505.jpg!

    The 4-in-1 is my go to. The wide angle makes for great landscape shots and expands my panoramic photos even further. The Macro lenses make the littlest things look amazing, like insects along a hike, flowers or even just a dollar bill. Then there’s everyone’s favorite, the Fisheye. Whether it’s taking a shot of the crowd at this summer’s concerts, a picture of the mountain as you ride up the lift, or for many social media gurus, improving your selfie game ten fold, the Fisheye has you covered. Grab yourself a selfie stick and throw the fisheye lens on, it’s selfie time.

    The newest “*active lens kit*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001941/ is my personal favorite. While not quite as versatile as the 4-in-1 the 2x Telephoto is exactly what I was looking for. The digital zoom has never been great. Shots come out blurry and if taking action shots you miss your subject completely. With the 2x Telephoto you can easily get up close and take the perfect shot. Bring the landscape closer and capture more detail of your friend’s line down the hill. The Super Wide-angle lens captures beautiful landscapes and also enhances your panoramic photos.

    We know you want one, so during this long weekend we’re going to launch an Instagram giveaway contest so you can get your hands on the “*Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens Kit and Ollocase for iPhone 6*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001940/. Simply follow “*@hellosmalldog*”:https://instagram.com/hellosmalldog, hashtag your photo #sdelaborday and tag us in the photos you want entered from your weekend fun, and Tuesday morning we’ll select a winner.

  • Time Machine Backs Up Your Mac!

    Time Machine has been a feature of Mac OS X for so long that I do not know how we ever did backups without it. It keeps a copy of all your files and updates it automatically. It remembers how your system looked on any given day so you can “go back in time” to see your Mac as it appeared in the past.

    h3. Setting up Time Machine

    You need to select a backup destination before you can use Time Machine. You can choose one of these:

    * an “*external drive*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Storage_and_Backup/External_Hard_Drives connected to a USB, FireWire or ThunderBolt port on your Mac
    * an “*AirPort Time Capsule*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Apple/Time_Capsule or OS X Server on your network
    * an external drive connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme

    Time Machine will keep hourly backups for the past 24 hours, daily backups for the past month and weekly backups. The oldest backups are deleted as your drive gets full.

    h3. Using Time Machine with an External Drive

    This is the simplest way to use Time Machine. Plug that 1TB drive that is on sale this week into the USB port on your Mac. If you haven’t already specified a backup device, Time Machine will ask you if you want to use that drive when you connect a blank drive to your Mac.

    * Click “Use as Backup Disk” to select that drive
    * You can choose to encrypt you backups if you want to prevent other users from accessing your data without a password. But a word of caution, if you do encrypt your data and forget your password you will not like it.

    h3. Using Time Machine with an AirPort Time Capsule or AirPort Extreme with attached Drive

    Once you have your Time Capsule configured on your network you can set it up to select as the backup device for Time Machine. Here’s the steps to get started:

    * Open Time Machine preferences an click Select Backup Disk
    * Select the AirPort Time Capsule (or the drive attached to your AirPort Extreme) from the page that comes up
    * You again have the option of encryption

    h3. Backing Up (beep, beep ,beep)

    Backing up begins automatically when your Time Machine drive is available. Your first backup will take a while, especially if you are doing it wirelessly with a Time Capsule. It does not interfere with your use of your Mac but you’ll want to give it a few hours for the first backup. If you are using the AirPort Time Capsule you will find that it goes a lot faster if your connect an Ethernet cable between your Mac and one of the Ethernet ports on the Time Capsule.

    Once the first backup is complete, Time Machine automatically backs up files that have changed on your Mac since the last backup was performed. You can check the status of your backup by clicking on the Time Machine icon in the menu bar.

    You can also manually start a backup by selecting “Back up Now” from the Time Machine menu bar item. If you hold down the Option key when selecting this menu you will also see additional items such as verifying the backup disk or switching to a different disk.

    h3. Restoring

    With Time Machine, you can go “back in time” to restore files, versions of files or the entire system. If you accidentally deleted a photo you can enter Time Machine, imagine you are H.G. Wells, and grab it from the past and restore it to the present.

    !{display: block;margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;}http://blog.smalldog.com/images/4504.png!

    Using the timeline on the right side of the window will allow you to reach back to a certain point in time. The timeline shows all the times of your backups on the drive. If you don’t know exactly when you deleted that photo you can use the back arrow to tell Time Machine to travel through time to show you when that folder last changed.

    You can also search for a file using a Finder window. From the Finder, enter Time Machine and then enter a search term in the search field. Use the back arrow to have Time Machine search through your backups.

    To restore a file, select the file or folder and click the “Restore” button. If you are not sure if you are restoring the right file, you can use Quick Look to preview the contents. Highlight the file and press the Space Bar to take a closer look.

    You can also revert to earlier versions of a document from within apps. In those apps that support this feature, open a file that you want to revert and you can either

    * Choose Enter Time Machine for the Time Machine Menu
    * Choose File>Revert to>Browse all Versions
    * Click the Time Machine icon in the Dock

    h3. Restoring your Whole Mac

    If you lost your Mac or like Grace left it someplace and you want to restore your whole life to another Mac you can do that by using Migration Assistant. A new Mac will ask you how you want to transfer data or you can launch Migration Assistant. Then you will be prompted to select a Time Machine Backup and whether you want everything or just apps, etc.

    As long as you keep storage attached wirelessly or by direct USB connection to your Mac, Time Machine can be a real lifesaver without any attention from you unless you need something from the past.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Artie brought in a whole basket of pears from the tree at his house. They were pretty darn tasty, too. September is harvest time and while there still is some great sweet corn out there, apples, squash, potatoes and other root crops are ready. We have eggplant and some nice jalapeño peppers in the garden, too.

    “Hey Siri, give me a hint!” That is the invite sent out by Apple for the big event on September 9. Excitement and anticipation of new toys from Apple is always fun. We will have full coverage for you in next week’s Kibbles & Bytes but we will be playing the guessing game until then. If you say “hey Siri, give me a hint” to your iPhone or iPad or Apple Watch, she will give you some clever responses that hold no clues like “What, you can’t tell from my colorful wavey words?” Interesting that she misspells wavy – that might be a hint.

    Have I ever told you how valuable Time Machine back-ups are? Of course, I have. I had another experience that just proves how important backing up your data can be. Grace left Key West to come home this week and called me in a panic at the airport, waking me up at 6AM to say she forgot her Mac at the house. After I cleared my head a bit and after the “and why are you calling me?” I realized that I could solve her dilemma. When she got home, I had a demo Mac ready and got it on my network and restored from her backup on our Time Capsule and after a few hours of data transfer, she was ready to go with all her data, music and pictures. Joe, our Key West manager extraordinaire, was kind enough to retrieve her MacBook Air so we will reverse that process once that gets up to Vermont. Backing up your data can be a life saver and Time Machine is the tool to use!

    One of the easiest ways to backup your data is to have an external hard drive that is dedicated to that task. For this week’s Kibbles & Bytes special we are offering the “*1TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim drive*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001943 for only $59.99!

  • Zoom and Voiceover in iOS

    Working at the Service Check-in Counter, I often have customers asking me how to get out of Zoom and/or Voiceover on their iOS devices. While most people have Zoom and Voiceover disabled, it still shows up now and again.

    If you have used Zoom, the image to the right may seem familiar. If this happens, you can try to enter your passcode and navigate to Settings to turn off Zoom but this can be difficult. An easier way out is a simple 3 finger tap twice which will Zoom you back out.

    If you have seen the image above, then you also must have experienced Voiceover. Instead of using your finger to select individual apps, the screen is sectioned into rectangles, and you select that shape as whole. It is very hard to navigate, and the whole time a voice is instructing your movement. Voiceover is helpful for the visually impaired, but can be a hinderance if turned on. You must navigate back to Settings > Accessibility and turn Voiceover off if you do not wish to use it. If you have the shortcut enabled, you can try triple clicking the home button. This will turn off Voiceover. I would recommend turning off both Zoom and Voiceover, unless of course you need them and are familiar with their commands.