Hardware
Jawbone: Get ticketed, get a discount
Who says crime doesn’t pay?
Aliph, makers of the ultra-cool noise-reducing Jawbone Bluetooth headset, have come up with a great marketing scheme. If you live in California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, or Washington — all states with laws requiring hands-free use of mobile phones — and receive a ticket for yapping with your iPhone plastered to your ear, Jawbone will deduct $20 off the purchase price of one of their headsets.
You can’t get a discount on the Silver Tongue model, but the prices for the Goldy Lips and Blah Blah Black versions end up at $129.99 and $109.99 respectively. All you need to do is go to the Jawbone website, look for the Hands Free Ticket Processor, and enter your state and ticket number. $20 is taken off the original purchase price, and you’re ready to go.
This is one case where I wish I did live in a nanny state that was forcing me to use a hands-free kit! [jawbone]
Popularity: 9% [?]
Mac 101: Running the Apple Hardware Test software
Is your Mac acting funny? If so, you can use the install disks that came with your machine to test your hardware. To use Apple’s Hardware Test (AHT), insert install disk #1 and reboot your Mac while holding down the “d” key on the keyboard.
The AHT software will load and ask for your language — choose your correct language and click the arrow. From the main menu you can click the “Hardware-Tests” tab. Two tests are available: standard and extended. The standard hardware test will allow you to do a quick, 1-3 minute test of the memory and logic board, while the extended test will run an hour-long test of your system. You can get to the extended test by clicking either a button or check box (this depends on your AHT software version).
Want to see more tips and tricks like this? Check out Apple’s Mac 101 section.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Psystar fights back, hires attorney
The Apple vs. Psystar battle continues to heat up as Psystar has hired a “well-known” attorney to handle the case. Attorneys at Carr & Ferrell (who won the 2006 burst.com lawsuit against Apple) have filled for an extension to the suit, which gives Psystar until August 18th to make a reply to Apple. Both Apple and Psystar agreed to the extension.
You may recall that Apple filed the lawsuit in a California court earlier this month, and later demanded that Psystar issue a recall for the Mac clones. When Apple filed the suit, they claimed that Psystar had violated their license agreement and committed copyright infringement by shipping “hackintosh” PCs with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
[via ComputerWorld]
Popularity: 7% [?]
Battery calibration recommended by Apple, why no utility?
Like virtually all mobile computer manufacturers, Apple recommends that users calibrate their laptop batteries every few months, as Scott pointed out a couple of years ago. Unlike many manufacturers, however, Apple does not include a utility to automatically perform a calibration. Given Apple’s uncanny ability to make things user-friendly, this seems like a bit of a glaring oversight.
What are the benefits of calibration? Primarily the goal is to ensure that the microprocessor in your battery provides an accurate estimate of how much time you have left on the battery. Over time it can lose track of just how much juice your battery has in it, and calibration gives it a very accurate reading on the battery’s health.
Older battery technologies also benefited from a process called conditioning, which was typically performed the same way as a current battery’s calibration process. In a nutshell, you fully charge the battery, fully discharge it, then fully charge it again. It’s unclear whether modern lithium batteries gain anything in an actual capacity perspective from this process, or if it is simply a calibration of the microprocessor for the purpose of providing accurate time estimates.
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Popularity: 20% [?]
Two auto performance meters for iPhone
I’ve seen a lot of fun accelerometer uses in the App Store so far, but this is probably the coolest — Dynolicious will actually use your iPhone’s accelerometer to determine all kinds of stuff about how awesome your ‘92 Subaru is, from 0-60 and 1/4 mile time up to lateral Gs and horsepower. Just throw your iPhone somewhere secure in the car, hit go, and Dynolicious will track all that hardware stuff for you (even over multiple runs). Very awesome — it’s in the App Store right now for $12.99, which is pricey, until you see what an actual GTech meter will set you back.
What? Gas is super expensive right now, and you want it even cheaper? Wish granted: our friends at Autoblog have also dug up an app called g-tac, which will track your times and even graph them out for you. Unfortunately, g-tac won’t do the cool accelerometer stuff, measuring out your lateral gs and horsepower for you, but you know the old saying: you can have things fast, good, or cheap, and you only get to pick two.
Popularity: 9% [?]
