Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Sonos utilizes a unique HiFi mesh networking technology to connect one or more speakers together wirelessly. Not only is Sonos convenient to use, but it sounds awesome! We’ve seen a lot of new Bluetooth and AirPlay speakers recently, but Sonos utilizes a different wireless technology.

The **Sonos App** connects to your wireless router and creates a new wireless network for all of your Sonos speakers. Whether you have one speaker in the living room or ten speakers spread throughout the house, they can all unite to play the same music at the same time. Building your Sonos setup is easy; syncing your speakers to the App for the first time is as easy as pressing a button, and then they’re connected forever. This is a great solution for customers who don’t want the hassle of running wires all over their house.

Sonos has a wide variety of wireless speakers and home theater components available to customize your perfect audio system. The **PLAY:1** is their smallest speaker, designed for portability while still providing crystal clear sound. The **PLAY:3** is the perfect size for the living room or backyard and can even be mounted. Lastly, the **PLAY:5** brings an impressively large sound that’s powerful enough to fill a large room; it’s also the only Sonos speaker with an audio line-in for connecting a wired device easily.

Come into one of our retail stores to get a live demo of what I would consider to be the best speaker on the market today, the *Sonos*.

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It is surprising to me how many people do not really know how to use Mac OS X dock feature. The Dock is a handy place to put all those frequently used apps so you can easily access them. More than that it is also a place you can stash documents and folders that you need to get at fast.   

One thing to remember from the start is that items in the Dock are not really there. They are aliases of the original item stored in other locations. So, do not worry if you accidentally move something out of the Dock as the original is still there waiting for you to put it back.

The Dock keeps apps on the right side and you will see a small divider line that will be where folders, documents and minimized windows are located. You can re-organize items by clicking and dragging them. The Trash is always on the far right and the Finder is always on the far left.

To add an item to the Dock simply drag it to the Dock. To remove an item from the Dock, drag its icon an inch or more off the Dock (I like to move it at least ½ way up the page) and then let go and it vanishes in a poof of smoke.

Whenever you open an app it will temporarily be in the Dock. If you want it to stay there you can right click (control click) on the icon in the Dock and you will see a set of options such as “Keep in Dock” or “Remove from Dock”. You can also set that app to start up on log-in from that options screen.

Using the Dock System Preference you can set the size of the Dock or set magnification to highlight the apps as you scroll over them. I don’t like that much so I keep it turned off. You can also position the Dock on the left, right or bottom of your screen. I much prefer the bottom. There are a number of other options including an option to automatically hide and show the Dock.

I love the Dock and all of my most used apps reside there for quick launching. It is also handy because you can see at a glance which apps are open and if you are preserving processing power or battery power you can quickly close those that you are not using.

Got any Dock tricks to pass along?

Have you heard about Apples latest update to their computers? Apple recently updated the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display. The 15-inch MacBook Pro now features the Force Touch trackpad, faster flash storage, and a longer battery life. The computer also allows for better graphics performance, customers can now choose a configuration with AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics. The updates to the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display features a new 3.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.7GHz, AMD Radeon graphics, and a 1TH hard drive.

The updated 15-inch MacBook Pro is ideal for enthusiasts and professionals looking for fast performance in a compact and light design. The computers aluminum unibody and solid state hard drive help make the computer both more durable and more reliable, thus making it even better for everyday use and travel. The long lasting battery also allows for hours and hours of use away from an outlet, thus making things even more convenient. For more details regarding both an overview of the machine and an overview of the specs, “Click Here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86945/macbook-pro-15in-retina-2-2ghz-i7-16gb-256gb-iris-force-touch-trackpad

The updated 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display is ideal for anyone who is looking for the absolute best experience for both viewing and editing photos and videos. This machine is also ideal for anyone using graphics-intensive apps, browsing the web, and so much more. For more details regarding both an overview of the machine and an overview of the specs, “Click Here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/86951/imac-27in-retina-5k-3-3ghz-i5-8gb-1tb-m290

_Dear Friends,_

The crab apple tree outside my house that we planted at my Mom’s memorial is in full bloom as are the apple trees and the lilacs. It is a very colorful display. As Grace and I head over the Kancamagus Highway on our way to Maine for the traditional first long motorcycle ride of the season, I am sure we will see a lot of spring blooms of all colors. I am really looking forward to the ride.  

Small Dog Electronics will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day except for our South Burlington store, whose hours on the holiday will be from 10 AM to 5 PM. We will resume normal operations on Tuesday May 26th. All of the shipping companies we use will also be closed for the holiday, so expect packages to take an extra day to arrive. We will reopen as usual on Tuesday and, of course, our website and online ordering will be available 24 hours a day.

“*How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!*”
-Maya Angelou

Memorial Day is celebrated to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. While the parades and celebrations are tributes to the brave men and women who have fought to protect us from tyranny, a lasting and real commitment to peace is the highest honor we can pay to soldiers. In these dangerous times, it is more important than ever to honor those who are on duty right now sacrificing so that we can enjoy a free society. We may not all agree with the policies that have put our sons and daughters in harm’s way, but honoring their service, sacrifice, and commitment is the duty of all citizens.

Apple lowered the price on the 5K Retina 27-inch iMac, introduced changes to the 15-inch MacBook Pro and finally released an Lightning Port dock. With WWDC coming up soon, I am sure there will be more new products coming soon! I am thrilled that my Apple Watch arrived today, a full month before the projected ship date. I’ll give you my first impressions next week!

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes special is the “*16GB iPod touch in Space Gray or White Silver bundled with a set of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo 2 Wireless on-ear Headphones.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001850 What an awesome gift for dad or grad! This is the latest iPod touch combined with the latest and greatest in wireless headphones from Beats. Regularly this bundle is $499 but exclusively for Kibbles & Bytes readers we are taking $25 off and giving you free shipping-$474.98.