Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Apple's iPhone Event: The Recap

    Today was a much anticipated day: as someone quoted on Twitter, “it’s like Christmas for iPhone users.” And it kind of is! For the most part, Mac rumor sites had it right: the “*iPhone 5c*”:http://www.apple.com/iphone-5c/ and “*iPhone 5s*”:http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/ were both announced. There are always leaked photos of the shells and guts of the phones before they are officially announced, but I think it all really comes together when we actually get to see the real thing in its true form, up on the screen.

    Apple, in my opinion, nailed it with the colors: bright and vibrant. They also created a case for the 5c that comes in the same colors as the phone but with a grid of holes punched out in the back so you’re able to see the color of the phone underneath. This allows you to mix and match the phone with the case to create a fun color combination.

    The 5c will be available in 16GB and 32GB and will start at $99, with the price of $199 for the 32GB. So does the “c” stand for — ‘cheap’ or ‘color’? In a(n unofficial) word: both!

    The second of the two phones announced was the iPhone 5s. As rumored, the phone is now available in gold along with the same white and black options. But, the coolest feature of the new iPhone 5s has to be the Touch ID. The home button of the iPhone 5s now doubles as 500ppi fingerprint sensor: that’s it folks, we are officially in the future!

    The Touch ID will allow iPhone owners to simply touch their home button to unlock their device (instead of swiping to unlock). Touch ID will also allow you to authenticate your iTunes purchases. Some might be a little weary of Apple having access to ones fingerprint but Apple has ensured the public that they will be encrypted and will not be available to third parties.

    Another great features of the 5s is the new processor, A7, and according to Apple, is more than twice as fast as its predecessor. The camera was also updated going from 8-megapixel to a 1.5x larger active sensor area with a five-element Apple-designed lens with f/2.2 aperture. The cool thing about this is what when you take a photo, the camera actually takes multiple photos and picks the sharpest one for you to view. Wicked smart!

    The prices and capacities are the same as the 5’s were: 16GB: $199, 32GB: $299 and 64GB: $399. The iPhone 5 is no longer available, but you can get a 4S for free when you sign a new cellular contract.

    All-in-all, the anticipated products were, in fact, announced. I have a feeling the color phones are going to be a huge success due to the fact that people love color as well as a more affordable option for an iPhone. The 5s should also do very well due to the new technology it carries. Apple nerds rejoice!

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Grace made an apple pie from the apples from our trees in the yard the other night. We can grow just about anything pretty well, but getting apples has always been a challenge for us. Usually they are misshapen or fall from the tree early or are the victim of a late spring frost. This year, we have quite a few and if my arctic kiwi plant doesn’t climb all over them, we might get a few pies this year.

    The weather has definitely been fall-like with some cool weather followed by stormy, hot and humid weather. You can see the tinges of the trees beginning to change with an occasional bright red maple. Flocks of Canada geese are flying in formation southward, so fall is really here.

    So if it is fall, it must be Apple announcement season and we had the introduction of two new iPhones this week. The iPhone 5C with its colorful plastic body is basically the iPhone 5 in a new colorful plastic case. It is the $99 entry-level iPhone now with the iPhone 4S being retained as the “free” iPhone when you sign up for a 2-year contract. The other big announcement was the iPhone 5S with some big advances in technology — the processors and the new Touch ID, which is the biometric fingerprint sensor.

    Fingerprint sensors are nothing new, but fingerprint sensors that actually work in an everyday environment are new. I bought a biometric lock for my house some years ago and thought I was really cool until I discovered (much to Grace’s glee) that it only worked occasionally and resulted in us being locked out of our house a couple of the very few times we lock our house. The fingerprint sensor on the iPhone is reportedly the first that really works reliably.

    Touch ID will work to unlock your iPhone 5S but also to authenticate your Apple ID for the iTunes or App stores, making it a foray into electronic payments, too. I’ll give a first hand (finger) report as soon as we have the iPhone 5S to test. The processor is the new A7, which by itself, is a breakthrough in speed and the first 64-bit processor in a smartphone. But there is a co-processor as well — the M7 that will take the load off of the A7 by handling all the “motion” activities such as gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and other sensor and uses a lot less power while doing it. With the M7 feeding information to the iPhone 5, there are a number of specialized fitness apps that can be envisioned.

    I have been playing with iOS 7 for awhile as part of the Apple Developers program, and it is a big advancement over the competition and iOS 6. I think you are going to really like the new iPhones — colorful form factors, greater speed, battery-saving features and the convenience of iOS 7!

  • Apple's iPhone Event: The Recap

    Today was a much anticipated day: as someone quoted on Twitter, “it’s like Christmas for iPhone users.” And it kind of is! For…

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  • Register for our FREE iPad Seminar in NH + You Could Win in a MacBook Air!

    If you’re in or near the Manchester, NH area, join us for a **free iPad in Business Briefing on Tuesday, September 17 from 9am – 12pm (get there at 8:30am for check-in and refreshments) at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, NH** — open to anyone interested in learning about how to use iPad in a business environment.

    We’ll have a representative from Apple on hand to present, as well as our partners Zco Corp. (App Developer) and Burlington Bank Card (iPad/iPhone POS System) to highlight their solutions.

    Topics will include integration, security, deployment, apps and of course, how using iOS and working with Small Dog Electronics can provide an ideal solution for your business.

    Visit our Seminars page for more details:
    “**Smalldog.com/seminars**”:http://www.smalldog.com/seminars

    Register now to make sure you’re entered to win a MacBook Air, and to join us for a fantastic 1/2 day seminar. *And did we mention that it’s free? You’ve got nothing to lose!*

    Eventbrite - iPad in Business Briefing

    The Small Dog Electronics Business Solutions team will be on hand for the event, so come on out — we’d love to meet you and answer any questions you may have about how we can help you get — or keep — your business running smoothly when it comes to technology.

    *Your dedicated NH reps:*

    * *Dana Flint,* Outside & Business Sales, “*dana@smalldog.com*”:mailto:dana@smalldog.com
    * *Chris Peaden,* Macintosh Consultant, “*chrisp@smalldog.com*”:mailto:chrisp@smalldog.com

    To learn more about what we have to offer businesses large and small, visit “*Smalldog.com/b2b*”:http://www.smalldog.com/b2b

  • A Solution For Forgotten Passcodes

    There seems to be an influx of customers who have forgotten the passcode on their iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad. Although this is an unfortunate frustration, the fix is relatively easy, and (hopefully) painless, provided you have your music/apps/other data backed up on your computer.

    (Warning: This fix will erase all data on the device itself. As long as everything is backed up on your computer, you have nothing to worry about.)

    # Basically, you need to restore your iPod/iPhone/iPad in “recovery mode”. In order to get your device into Recovery Mode, you first need to turn off your device (hold the Sleep/Wake button until the “slide to power off” prompt can be seen).
    # Now that your device is off, make sure your USB dock connector cable is plugged into a USB port on your computer, but NOT plugged into the device. iTunes should be open during this process.
    # While holding down the Home button, plug your USB cable into the device, keep holding the home button until you see the “Connect to iTunes” screen (iTunes logo+USB cable).

    You should now get an alert in iTunes that states a device in “recovery mode” has been detected. Click OK, and you are now able to restore the device, erasing the user added data, as well as the passcode.

  • How to Unlock a FileVault 2 Encrypted Computer

    Summer is at an end, and I feel like I have missed it entirely. This technician has only seen a few glimpses of sun in between hours spent repairing computers.

    One bit of information that I have come across lately is that one has ability to unlock a FileVault 2 encrypted computer and decrypt it as long the administrator password is known, as that is the account that manages FileVault security. This will only work with FileVault 2; legacy FileVault encrypts the whole drive and won’t allow you to even reformat the hard drive. Legacy encrypts the entire drive where FileVault 2 will give you the option to encrypt the partition or the user.

    To start this process, you will need to boot into the recovery partition, CMD+R on start up just after hitting the power button. Once you see the Apple logo and the spinning wheel, you can let go. You will be prompted for a language; select yours and continue. Next you will be presented with a list, which you’ll ignore; select Utilities from the menu, then select Terminal.

    For you power users, this is your command line interface, all text based. First input:

    *diskutil corestorage list*

    This will list any volumes that have been encrypted by FileVault 2. Pay attention — you need the UUID for the FileVaulted volume. It will be something like “Logical Volume C464C2C0-74BF-4C63-B469-23D8ED0034FF”; it won’t be identical or even close when it comes to the string of numbers and letters but that’s the important part that you need.

    Next, we need to unlock the volume so we can encrypt it next. Type in:

    *diskutil corestorage unlockVolume “UUID” -stdinpassphrase*

    Replace “UUID” with your specific UUID number without quotes. Make sure you pay attention to the spaces as these are important. Next it will prompt you for the passphrase or password of the administrator account that has access to the FileVault settings. This password should be different than the actual FileVault password. You should see that the volume is unlocked with the password accepted, and that it finished its corestorage operation and is ready for input. (If you get an error, you know that you tried the wrong password.)

    Now it’s time to decrypt the volume; this can take time, depending on the volume size. Type in:

    *diskutil corestorage revert “UUID” -stdinpassphrase*

    Replace the “UUID” with your specific UUID without the quotes, and again, it will ask you for the password. Input the admin password and hit Enter. Decryption will begin, but it won’t display anything; type in:

    *diskutil corestorage list*

    This will display its progress at the time of the inquiry. Once the operation is complete, you should be able to quit Terminal, open Disk Utility from the same menu, and the drive and partition will be listed (so long as the partition says Macintosh HD — or whatever you named it — and not ‘Incompatible Format’). Then, you have successfully removed the FileVault 2 encryption from your hard drive.

    Restart the machine and allow it to boot normally. It should now bypass the FileVault password request and go right to your login screen.

    Success!

  • Welcome to fall!

    So today is the day that we find out what Apple has to bring to the table in terms of the iPhone! Will it be the 5C? Maybe it is the updated 5S? Will iOS 7 be released for the general masses today!? I seriously cannot wait to see what they come out with.

    I wonder if I’ll be able to keep my credit card in my wallet or if I’ll be ready to trade in my iPhone 5 immediately… I really hope they nail it out of the park, especially since it has been awhile since they had a huge release (sorry, MacBook Air fans).

    We have a very informative Tech Tails issue for you this week. Make sure to stop by your local Small Dog store to check out the Apple event on our Apple TVs and get yourself a Mac laptop and/or desktop to use with the new devices when they release! If you’re reading from afar, check us out as we “*live-tweet the event on Twitter.*”:http://www.twitter.com/hellosmalldog

    As always, have a great week!

    Barry
    “*barry@smalldog.com*”:mailto:barry@smalldog.com

  • Faster is better. With blazing 802.11n, the affordable AirPort Express is powerful enough to run a home Wi-Fi network, yet small enough to…

  • Meet Our Team

    The Small Dog Electronics Business Solutions team will be on hand for the event, so come on out — we’d love to meet you and answer any questions you may have about how we can help you get — or keep — your business running smoothly when it comes to technology.

    *Your dedicated NH reps:*

    * *Dana Flint,* Outside & Business Sales, “*dana@smalldog.com*”:mailto:dana@smalldog.com
    * *Chris Peaden,* Macintosh Consultant, “*chrisp@smalldog.com*”:mailto:chrisp@smalldog.com

    To learn more about what we have to offer businesses large and small, visit “*Smalldog.com/b2b*”:http://www.smalldog.com/b2b