Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • iPad Gift Ideas

    The iPad is once again a great holiday gift. BUT, what about those who couldn’t wait for the holidays and already went out and grabbed their pretty new iPad? What do we get them to further the iPad experience? There are tons of accessories out there perfect for iPad users–here are a few of our favorites:

    **Hammerhead** makes a variety of iPad accessories. They have several cases that fill most iPad users’ needs. The “**Hardshell Case**”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=++++++hard+shell&refinecat=iPad_Accessories|Cases_and_Sleeves|iPad_2 is the most popular; it’s a great hard plastic case that covers both the front and back of the iPad, offering great protection. Once opened it allows for a video/landscape view, or it can create a great typing layout. For those who already purchased Apple’s Smart Cover, Hammerhead makes a great “**Back Cover**”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=+hammerhead+back+cover that, coupled with the Smart Cover, will keep the entire iPad protected. There is also the “**Bluetooth Keyboard Case**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/78830/hammerhead-bluetooth-keyboard-case-for-ipad-2-leather that the typer on your list will enjoy; it includes a Bluetooth keyboard and stylus. Speaking of styluses, Hammerhead has some “**great color choices**”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=++hammerhead+stylus++++&refinecat=iPad_Accessories|Pointing_Devices_and_Remotes. A stylus can be very useful with some of the apps available in the App Store. Check out all the great “**Hammherhead products**”:http://www.smalldog.com/mfg/?MfrName=Hammerhead on our website!

    **Bluetooth** has been around for a while but has had a rebirth with the iPad: Speakers, headphones, keyboards and other accessories allow users to enjoy the iPad without plugging in a bunch of wires. “**Creative**”:http://www.smalldog.com/mfg/?MfrName=Creative+Labs makes a line of Bluetooth speakers perfect for music fans: they can push their favorite tunes or apps to a set of speakers across the room as they sit comfortably in their favorite chair. “**Bluetooth headphones**”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=++++++bluetooth+headphones make it possible to walk around cord-free as the iPad sits safely in its case; these headphones also include a mic for FaceTime or Skype as well as a remote to control volume, pause/play and skip functions. By pairing a Bluetooth keyboard with the iPad, users who do a lot of typing can compose emails, papers or iMessages faster than ever. Check out “**Apple’s Bluetooth Keyboard**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/78739/apple-wireless-bluetooth-keyboard/at_bis. It’s important to keep the iPad clean; be sure and pick up some “**iKlear**”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=++++++iklear.

    In addition to the practical items above, there are also a number of fun accessories available. The “**Camera Connection Kit**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/75682/apple-ipad-ipad-2-camera-connection-kit/at_bis allows users to upload their photos directly from their camera to the iPad and start to share on Twitter or Facebook. Another “**iPad power adapter**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/78774/micro-accessories-ipad-10w-usb-ac-power-adapter/at_bis makes the perfect gift for those forgetful people on your list. The “**Scosche Headrest Mount**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79430/scocshe-backstage-p2-headrest-mount-for-ipad-1-2/at_bis allows the iPad to be attached to the back of a car’s headrest, which is great for the kids while mom or dad is driving.

    Enjoy the holidays!!!

  • Product Review: Kogeto Dot

    Ranking in as the coolest iPhone accessory I’ve played with in quite some time, the Dot by “**Kogeto**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79434/kogeto-dot-360-degree-video-recorder-for-iphone-4-4s-black/at_bis is definitely a device worth looking into. Now your iPhone 4/4S HD video camera just got even better. The iCONIC lens incorporated into this durable yet light-weight attachment captures fully immersive panoramic 360° video. View every angle of the video just by swiping your finger across the screen.

    The free “**Looker**”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http://itunes.apple.com/ar/app/looker/id465782176?mt=8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30 application allows you to share the video immediately as well. This is perfect for recording immersive videos during a sporting event, concert, road trip and more. One downside to the Dot is the video resolution. Although it still looks good, it seems to lose some of the HD quality that the phone records without the adapter. We shot some cool video with the Kogeto Dot in the Manchester store. “**Check it out for yourself!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/79434/kogeto-dot-360-degree-video-recorder-for-iphone-4-4s-black/at_bis Available for $79.99.

  • _**Greetings once again from Manchester!**_

    The month of November certainly was exciting for us. We celebrated our 1-year anniversary of being open with some great deals, and we survived the Black Friday rush. We also partnered with the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire (ARLNH) to raise awareness of animals in need of adoption. We kicked off our partnership with a special adoption event hosted outside our Manchester Store in the Mall of New Hampshire. ARLNH brought a handful of dogs to the Mall, and shoppers met and played with them. One lucky dog found a home forever that day, and two are in the process of being adopted as well. We’ve had quite a busy past month and the next one will be just as bustling!

    As we move into December, the holiday shopping season is starting to kick into high gear. Santa Claus has setup his workshop right outside our store and holiday music is in the air. The iPad looks to be our top-selling item this season once again. However, we still have plenty of other great gift ideas as well, a number of which are featured below.

    Enjoy!
    -B.J. and the Manchester retail team
    “**bj@smalldog.com**”:mailto:bj@smalldog.com

  • Small Dog's Holiday Commercial

    Our holiday TV ad—starring Buddy, Hammer, Fantail and Max—is now airing in Vermont and New Hampshire. Check out all the festive fun here:…

  • Thoughts on Lion's Recovery Partition

    We’ve seen some issues with Lion installations, particularly regarding the creation of the recovery partition. If you use a non-standard disk format (such…

  • Garage Sale Now Open!

    Our famous Garage Sale—Winter 2011 edition—is now underway. We’ve been combing the Small Dog warehouse for deals to include in the sale and…

  • Garage Sale Starts Today!

    Our famous Garage Sale–Winter 2011 edition–kicks off today starting at 10 a.m. EST.

    We’ve been combing the Small Dog warehouse for deals to include in the sale and think you’ll be excited about some of the fun things we discovered in there!

    The full list of garage sale items is available at “*www.smalldog.com/garagesale*”:http://www.smalldog.com/garagesale. Orders will be taken online only via our website, and there are no phone orders permitted. Garage Sale items generally ship within a week of when orders are placed.

    These deals won’t last long, so don’t miss out!

  • Tip of the Week: Cold Weather Care

    During the colder months, it’s important keep in mind that cold objects entering a warm, moist environment (like your home or workplace) will become damp with condensation. As liquid exposure of any type can void your warranty and result in costly repair, and as Apple now installs liquid exposure indicators inside each of its products, it’s vital that you keep your electronic gear safe.

    If at all possible, do not keep your notebook, iPod, iPhone or other electronic gear in the car overnight in the cold. We’re beginning to see a few victims of condensation come through the shop, and it’s easy to avoid. If you find yourself with a moisture-covered device, the first thing to do is turn it off and remove the battery. iPod and iPhone users can only shut down and wait, as the batteries in these devices are not removable.

    Legendary data recovery firm (and Small Dog data recovery partner) “*Drive Savers*”:http://www.drivesavers.com notes that this exposure to hard drives is particularly serious: “Cold weather can wreak havoc on temperature-sensitive hard drives used in computers, game consoles, MP3 players and video recorders. Condensation buildup on the drive platters and frozen components can lead to drive failure and data loss.”

  • iOS AirPlay Mirroring: A Game Changer

    With the release of iOS 5, Apple has raised the bar in digital entertainment once again. iOS 5 supports a feature called AirPlay Mirroring. AirPlay Mirroring allows you to wirelessly mirror your iOS device onto your television via Apple TV. This is an amazing new way to interact with the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, as it allows you to take advantage of a big screen using a small mobile device. All you need to do to activate it is double-tap your home button, swipe to the right to access the multitasking bar, tap on the AirPlay icon, select your Apple TV and flip the switch to mirroring. After that, what you see on your iDevice’s screen will be on your TV as well.

    One of the major benefits of AirPlay Mirroring is gaming. The iOS game market is one of the largest mobile gaming markets due to the fact that there are so many people who own the devices. With the ability to share to a larger screen wirelessly, what is going to change is that more people are going to start to use their TVs as the screen for their gaming on iOS devices. This allows for developers to start making the apps work as a controller, while everything is done on the big screen. Some apps already support this, such as “*Real Racing 2 HD*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/real-racing-2-hd/id414566922?mt=8%2526uo%253D6%2526partnerId%253D30.

    As someone who is into mobile gaming on iPad, I know I like this new feature very much. It works great for all kinds of uses. My Apple TV is hooked up to a 27″ ViewSonic HD display and my stereo. Streaming wirelessly to the Apple TV, I get full HD versions of games right on the screen.

    This has many more uses than just gaming though: it allows you to stream whatever you are doing wirelessly. Say you are working on an important file for work and want to see it on a big screen instead of working on the iPad screen directly. Before AirPlay Mirroring this meant you needed to connect your iPad to the television with an HDMI cable in order to mirror anything. Now mirroring is all wireless and available at the double-tap of the home button.

    This new feature is one of the many reasons that iOS 5 is the world’s best mobile operating system. Apple is always striving to be the best, and with this and all the other amazing new features of iOS 5, it seems as if they have done it with this release.

  • Thoughts on Lion's Recovery Partition

    We’ve seen some issues with Lion installations, particularly regarding the creation of the recovery partition. If you use a non-standard disk format (such as case-sensitive HFS+), have multiple partitions, or even Boot Camp, you’ll have issues installing Lion. In most cases, you’ll have to delete the Boot Camp partition from your machine so that Lion can repartition your drive. Only then can the recovery partition be created. If you have a Boot Camp partition, odds are you’ll need to remove it in order for the Lion installer to create the recovery partition.

    The recovery partition, installed with Lion, can be accessed by holding down the Option key immediately after powering on your computer. The boot manager will be visible, and you can click on the item clearly marked “Recovery Partition.” Alternatively, you can turn on your computer while holding down the Command and R keys. For more information on the recovery partition, see “*Apple’s documentation*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718.

  • Lion and FileVault 2

    With the release of Lion, Apple made significant changes to FileVault. From its debut in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, FileVault encrypted only users’ home folders. This was adequate for many, but it left the rest of a hard drive unencrypted. In Lion, the whole drive is encrypted instead of individual user accounts. FileVault and its preferences are again in System Preferences, under Security and Privacy. By clicking on the FileVault tab, you will be able to enable or disable this security option.

    Now that FileVault uses full-disk encryption, it is necessary to enable users who can unlock the machine. Enabling FileVault without adding other users to the list of of users who can unlock the machine will leave the unit in a state where it’s unusable by all accounts except the users who can unlock the drive.

    FileVault 2 acts at the firmware level, under Intel’s Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI), and when the machine is first booted, you come to the login window before the system loads. After entering the password of the user you’d like to log in under, the Apple symbol will appear and the unit will fully boot to the account you specified.

    If you’re upgrading from a previous version of Mac OS X to Lion, the old FileVault scheme will remain intact. As a legacy FileVault user, Lion will ask you if you want to turn it off. You can continue to use the legacy version in Lion, but you will not be able to use the legacy version for any new users added to the machine.

    With FileVault 2, Apple has proceeded to offer a recovery key should you forget your password. The key must be copied externally and stored safely; if you forget your password, you will not be able to access the system should you need to. You also have the option of storing the key with Apple. With a series of three questions and exact answers, your machine’s serial number and other information, you will be able to contact AppleCare for your recovery key. After entering the key and unlocking the system, you will be prompted to change your password.