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September 1st through 7th Archives

Friday, September 6th 2002 09:59 CDT

No News is Good News? No!

There's just not much out there today in the mobile computing news world, so we suggest you head over to MacLinkage.com and check out the best general Mac news stories of the day when they update about Noon Pacific Time.

Thursday, September 5th 2002 10:05 CDT

MacSpeech Updated to 1.5; Adds Jag Support

The guys at MacSpeech sent this press release to us yesterday:

Bedford, NH, September 4th, 2002 - MacSpeech, Inc., the speech recognition authority for the Mac, today released an update to its flagship product, iListen 1.5, for Mac OS X version 10.2 ³Jaguar.²

The updated version of iListen 1.5 takes advantage of Mac OS X v10.2¹s Universal Access environment for improved speech recognition and easier navigation by voice. iListen 1.5¹s Correction feature now works more proficiently with Mac OS X applications as well. The updated version is free to current users of iListen 1.5.

³We are committed to providing the best speech recognition experience for Mac OS X,² said Andrew Taylor, MacSpeech's CEO. ³This update takes iListen 1.5 to a higher level in speech functionality on a computer.²

³Mac OS X v10.2 is loaded with over 150 new features and applications to make everything you do on a Mac that much more effortless,² said Ron Okamoto, Apple¹s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. ³iListen 1.5 is a great speech recognition software for Mac OS X and we¹re delighted that this valuable solution is available for our users.²

The iListen 1.5 update is available immediately for download at the company's web site www.macspeech.com. iListen 1.5 is available for sale from the company's online store and resellers.

The International English version of iListen 1.5 is also available immediately through MacSpeech in the UK. More information can be found at the company's European web site at www.macspeech.co.uk.

MS Security Flaw Affects Several Popular Mac Apps

If you're a user of Mac Office, IE for Mac, or Outlook Express, take a look at this MS technote, which details a security weakness.

10.2 Upgrade Report

One more report...

Just upgraded a 3 month old TiBook 800 DVI with 10.2. No problems with the upgrade, everything went smooth, although it took about an hour for the process. Overall system feels very similar to 10.1.5, not much difference. I'm suprised to read all the posts about faster response, I don't see a big difference. System seems to boot slightly faster BUT takes 30-45 secs. to shut down whereas it took 5 secs. before. Ironically this is what happened when I upgraded my PC to XP (parallel universe?). The reason I shelled out the $120 bucks for this upgrade was 1) To help Apple fight the good fight and 2) I was really hoping that zero config networking that is supposed to be a part of 10.2 would allow me to finally get my networked PC's to talk to my MACS's. Unfortunetly I still can't get them to see each other on the network. (I guess thats what keeps the networking guys in business.) Overall, I don't think its worth the $120 unless cost is not an issue to you. For your average user, I would either stick with 10.1.5 or get the "education" price (I think its $65 from Apple.com). Its not a bad upgrade, just a little lack luster. Rock On X!!

Tuesday, September 3rd 2002 15:18 CDT

Spire USA Comes Aboard as Advertiser

We're happy to announce that Spire USA is joining the ranks of PBZone advertisers. We mentioned their 15% special last week, which is available only to PBZone.com readers. Check out the discount details as well as all their handmade in the USA products here.

Best Buy to Sell iPod

Best Buy will be selling the iPod starting Sept. 15th, stocking the 10 and 20 GB variants for Windows and the 10 GB unit for Mac customers. All the models will be available on BestBuy.com.

Monday, September 2nd 2002 00:01 CDT

MacResQ Expands PowerBookResQ; Launches Screen Repair Service

The guys over at MacResQ sent a press release announcing an expansion of their PowerBook repair service:

MacResQ announced today a new PowerBook G3 screen repair service as part of their PowerBookResQ repair program. The new service offers PowerBook G3 owners an affordable way to replace their scarred screen polarizers with PowerBookResQ's famous quick turnaround and convenience.

Soon after the first G3 "Wallstreet" PowerBooks were released in 1998, users noticed distracting marks on their LCD screens after a short period of use. These marks result from the LCD screen coming into contact with the PowerBook's keyboard when the lid is closed. Oil from the user's fingertips transfers from the keyboard to the screen, leaving the unsightly marks. If a PowerBook user doesn't clean the screen regularly, these oils penetrate the ultra-thin protective cover on the screen known as the polarizer. Once the polarizer has been damaged in this way, the marks are permanent and affect the quality of the screen and the PowerBook.

PowerBookResQ is pleased to announce an affordable solution for this problem. Rather than $500-$800 for an entirely new screen, our Technicians can now replace a PowerBook G3 polarizer and give the screen a new lease on life for just $299.00! Like all other PowerBookResQ services, this price includes overnight pickup and delivery anywhere in the United States. The price also includes PowerBookResQ's new PowerPad screen protector to prevent additional problems once the screen has been repaired.

PowerBook G3 Polarizer Replacement is compatible with the following PowerBooks:

- PowerBook G3 Wallstreet: 233, 250, 266, 292 and 300 Mhz systems
- PowerBook G3 Lombard: 333 & 400 Mhz
- PowerBook G3 Pismo: 400 & 500 Mhz

Cost is $299.00 for the polarizer repair and a PowerPad screen protector, plus three-way overnight pickup and delivery at the customer's location.

PowerBookResQ also offers fast, convenient, and affordable PowerBook repairs for just $99.00, which includes 3-way overnight shipping, the initial diagnostic service, and PowerBookResQ's unique PowerBox, which the customer may keep for future use. For even faster service, same-day pickup is available for an additional charge.

For computer resellers and repair centers, PowerBookResQ offers discounted rates on products and services. Computer dealers can send overflow service work or seamlessly outsource their entire PowerBook repair operation. Volume discounts are available for schools, corporations and government agencies.

For details about PowerBookResQ, please visit http://www.powerbookresq.com/

A Few More Jaguar Responses

Since the Jaguar reports still pour in, we'll publish what we get:

I installed Jaguar on a PowerBook G3 Wallstreet (Sonnet WS G3/500Mhz). Nothing but trouble. The screen turns white, system hangs, temperature rises, ... I removed almost all my ram, 128 Mb, I had 384MB. It was a pain to install, it worked as soon that I removed the extra ram. (worked fine untill 10.1.5) For me 10.1.5 was very good and fast, and it is a disapointment that I payed so much for nothing !

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Just wanted to let you know I have installed OSX 10.2 on my iBook 600 and the speed increase is great. But I can not put the iBook to sleep with out a crash. When putting the iBook to sleep the screen goes blank but you can still hear the HD running as well as the caps lock LED can be activated on. Also there is no flashing sleep light. The only way to restart the iBook is to reboot the computer. I want to stay with OSX 10.2 because the speed increase helps the iBook from dragging along with the little video memory it has. Does anybody have a work around for this problem ?

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Had some troubles installing Jaguar on my Pismo G3/500/256; with the 'upgrade existing' option the installer crashed due to an 'unexpected error', and asked to reboot the system (one can almost imagine a M$ copyright notice with such a nondescriptive errormessage ... ;-P). After several attempts where it would fail in a similar way but at random stages, I opted for the 'archive and install' which worked fine.

Overall performance is a bit snappier; Mail is great, although it managed to junk a friend's mail (still learning, I know ...). The Finder-improvements are good.

Some quirks: As other readers reported I also notice that several letters in the menus (most noticably 'i') have a brownish colour; fiddling with the anti-aliasing didn't have any effect on that.

The battery indicator in the toplevel menubar always says "Calculating ..." ("until full" I think is the rest of the message but this is not shown), even though the battery must be fully charged (the battery-charge-indicator-lights are off).

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Not sure why so many are having problems with Jaguar and their PowerBooks. My experience has been nearly flawless so far.

I'm currently running Jag on a DVI 667 TiBook, with 768 MB of RAM.

Speed is about 20% faster across the board, except in launching apps, which is about the same as 10.1.5, and shutting down/restarting, which takes much longer, but hey..I don't do that much nowadays, anyway.

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TI-800/512/Rage 7500/32 60gig/5400. Well it would seem if i was running on a slower 500G4 TI i would see less improvements. Since my system is in line, it would seem with 10.2 specs it Blazes. I can run Max payne 800x600 All features at medium with no hickups. All my program seem realtime, except HELP!! Help lags. Other than my fan running all the time and my airport having no real reception its a great upgrade.

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I have a Powerbook G3 Series II with Jag.

As it turns out the screen isn't really off when the computer wakes from sleep. It is on its lowest brightness setting (at least for me it was). I fixed the problem somehow (I'm not sure how, and I haven't been able to get the problem back.) I think it was either resetting the PRAM 4x, or taking my upgraded RAM out of the bottom slot, and putting it in the top slot (I had 1x128 in the bottom and 1x32 in the top. Now I have 1x32 in the bottom and 1x128 in the top) I'd like to know how many other people with this problem have upgraded their RAM.

Battery life is good (about 2.5-3 hours) and the interface is plenty fast. 

The fan came on for the first time (ever!) for 5 minutes. I haven't heard it since.

Networking and browsing is fine for me (ever try to get a Mac running 8.6 to cooperate with WinXPee?

Solar Power for PowerBooks Responses

Last week, we had a question from a reader heading into the wilderness regarding powering a PowerBook using solar energy. Several readers wrote in, and here are the responses:

Just a minor heads-up.. when looking for solar panels to power a solar powered battery charger look for a true renewable energy reseller that offers a complete line of panels at substantially cheaper prices than other non-renewable energy resellers. Some places that I have personally ordered from are http://www.windsun.com and http://www.gotsolar.com.

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try http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/product.cfm?dp=1000&sd=1006&ts=3415278

I have one and works fine with my Lombard, just need a car adapter. It's the successor to the solar panels from KISS but the product line has changed hands a couple times now.

I have no idea who RealGoods is, I bought mine from Jade Mountain which now refers to them. And, I still have my ancient model from KISS which used to power my PowerBook 100, it can still power other 6-7V DC equipment.

ah here's where they went: http://www.powerqwest.com/Products/Sun_Catcher_Mobile_Power/sun_catcher_mobile_power.htm
http://www.powerqwest.com/Press_Room/February_9__1999/february_9__1999.htm.

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I saw the post today about solar battery chargers and dug out a URL for an article posted on MacOpinion a year ago. It seemed to have pretty decent information.

http://www.macopinion.com/columns/roadwarrior/01/08/21/index.html

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The UNI-PAC 30 is the absolute best option if you plan to be moving form one location to another a lot. The unit supports any number of devices up to (30w, 17.6v, 1.7a) Current Model PB G4 batteries are 14.4v. Let's face it, a Powerbook G4 is no energy miser but the UNI-PAC has enough power ,in full Sunlight, to run the Powerbook and provide a slow charge to the batteries. If the Powerbook is off then the batteries charge quicker.

The great thing about this unit is that it folds up to the size of a notebook and even works when shaded. It is also impervious to most damage, there is no glass or crystalline to break if dropped and if a panel gets punctured the unit will continue to function.

All in all a very rugged unit that provides many times the power of other devices that claim to be "laptop chargers".

If you plan to be more stationary then you might consider building a device, or buying a premade one, that charges a larger cell which you use with a power converter to charge the Powerbook batteries.

The UNI-PAC is available from US, UK, and Canadian distributors as well as over the internet.

Good Luck on your adventure.

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I have not used this personally, so YMMV...

But there is a company called Jade Mountain that makes solar power rechargers for laptops. Their web site is lacking, but you can use it to request further information:

http://www.jademountain.com/energyProducts/economy-laptop.html

This guy:

http://www.discoveryride.com

Rode his recumbent bike from Yorktown, VA to Seattle Washington this summer. He kept a Travel Log along the way using an iBook and the Jade Mountain charger. (you can read all about the ride and his equipment on his site if you are interested...)

He has links to a bunch of Solar Power stuff here:

http://www.discoveryride.com/solar.html