The Tech Bench

From Apple:

Effective June 6, 2011, MobileMe has reached end of life, and Apple will no longer activate new accounts.

Customers who have an active MobileMe paid subscription or a 60-day trial account will have their service automatically extended through June 30, 2012, at no additional charge. After that date, the MobileMe service will no longer be available.

MobileMe members who sign up for iCloud will be able to keep me.com or mac.com email addresses and move their MobileMe mail, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks to the new service.

Apple’s new Mac App Store is scheduled to go live on January 6th.

This new application will allow Snow Leopard users to browse, download and update Mac apps just like you would apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

You can purchase apps using your iTunes credentials and they’ll download and install straight onto your Mac.

The arrival of the Mac App Store should bring even more applications and developers to the Mac platform. Check software update on January 6th for the download.

[ Mac App Store ]

Apple has released the new Magic Trackpad.

This bluetooth wireless trackpad is essentially a larger (80% larger than the MacBook Pro 13″) laptop trackpad. The whole surface is clickable and made of the same glass found on the MacBook Pros.

Who wants this?

People that prefer a trackpad to traditional mouse for their Mac desktop or to use with an external keyboard with their Mac laptop. Apple highlights that you can use the new Magic Trackpad in conjunction with an external mouse, so you have all the input methods available for whatever your application.

My only real gripe is the name. “Magic” just doesn’t seem to fit with Apple’s overall brand strategy, although they seem intent on changing that.

The Magic Mouse is available now for $69 and requires a Mac with bluetooth and 10.6.4 or later.

[ Magic Mouse ]

There is a model number found on the bottom of all Apple laptops.

This number can help identify the general type of laptop.

If you’re not quite sure the screen size of your laptop or what type of Mac you have, this can be a quick and easy way to check.

A1001 / A1025 / M8407 /M5884- PowerBook G4 Titanium 15″ (Black Keyboard)

A1005 / M6411 / M6497 - iBook G3 12″ (Dual USB – White Casing)

A1007 / M8413 - iBook G3 14″ (Dual USB – White Casing)

A1054 / A1133 - iBook G4 12″

A1055 / A1134 - iBook G4 14″

A1010 / A1104 - PowerBook G4 12″

A1046 / A1095 / A1106/ A1138 - PowerBook G4 15″ (Silver Keyboard)

A1013 / A1052 / A1107 / A1139 - PowerBook G4 17″

A1181 - MacBook 13″ (White / Black)

A1150 / A1211 / A1226 / A1260 - MacBook Pro 15″ (Silver Keyboard)

A1151 / A1212 / A1229 / A1261 - MacBook Pro 17″ (Silver Keyboard)

A1237 - MacBook Air 13″

A1278 - MacBook Pro 13″ Unibody (Black Keyboard)

A1342 - MacBook 13″ White Unibody

A1286 – MacBook Pro 15″ Unibody (Black Keyboard)

A1287 / A1297 - MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody (Black Keyboard)

When it comes time to upgrade your Mac or iPod, selling your old device can help offset the cost of the new one. But where is the best place to sell?

Often the choice comes down to friends, eBay or Craigslist. While some sellers may be looking to get the most money for their old gadget, others are looking for a low hassle experience.

So let’s use some blanket generalizations and take a look at the pros and cons for each one.

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Selling to your friends and family

Pros – You don’t need to do much legwork to advertise. You can trust the transaction. Low stress. Instant payment.

Cons – You’re less likely to ask for/get a high price. If anything happens to the device in the future (i.e. hard drive fails) you’ll know. You may end up becoming tech support.

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Craigslist

Pros - You can usually get the highest price here (there are less competing items and a strong/friendly ad will work wonders.) Once the deal is done, its done. No transaction fees and you’ll usually get paid in cash.

Cons – Getting phone calls only to ask if you still have the item for sale, which of course you do. Having strangers come over to your house or public meetings that feel like ransom deals.

___________________________________

eBay

Pros – Transaction can be conducted in your PJs. Ads are easy to setup. Great if you live in a non metro area. Fun to watch the bidding. May get a good price.

Cons – Gotta deal with shipping. Paypal can be a pain to work with. Most expensive option. Sometimes buyers can be finicky upon receipt. May not get a good price.

Before you put your item up for sale, it’s always a good idea to see what other sellers are asking (and getting) for that item. If you do sell to a family member or friend, it’ll help if they already know something about the device. If you’re going to put on ad on Craigslist or eBay, include lots of pictures and try to provide as much detail as possible (original boxes and other materials will also add to the value.)

Happy Selling!

Parallels has made switching from a PC to the Mac even easier with their new Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition.

Parallels Desktop is a Mac application that allows you to run Windows side by side with your Mac OS. The new Mac Edition includes Parallels Transporter which will migrate your Windows files and applications from a PC to your Mac.

Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition is available now for $99. The $20 premium over the regular version of Parallels Desktop ($79) is well worth it if you’re planning to migrate your PC data and applications over to your Mac.

[ Parallels]

No, this product is not real. The box however, is.

These have been out for a while at The Onion Store and might just be the perfect gift box for the Mac/Animal lover in your family.

These decoy boxes come in a variety of ridiculous (yet believable) products and make for some funny gift giving.

They would also probably make a good place to store valuables as no thief would steal them?

Available for $8 or in variety 4 packs for $25.

[ The Onion Store ]

Google has announced the Google Chrome Operating System.

The Chrome OS will be open source and run on x86 and ARM machines. The release date is set for the second half of 2010 and will first appear on Netbooks. The main point of the OS is to build a simple and fast OS that is made to run web apps. A literal translation of the browser is the OS.

So will the Chrome OS run a Mac?

Since the Chrome OS is linux based and works with x86 processors (same as the Intel Macs) there should be no technical reason why the OS would not work. Since the Chrome OS is being billed as open source and open to developers, I’m sure support for the Mac will come quickly. Besides, I’ve been to the Google campus many times and the place is full of Macs.

So why do we need a new OS? Google believes strongly in the cloud computing model. They’ve correctly stated that the foundation for todays operating systems “were designed in an era where there was no web.” This is Google’s attempt to simplify and speed up the web.

Will cloud computing and web apps fundamentally change the way we use computers? Do people want to have their data and apps locally as apposed to on some company’s server? Can web apps ever be as powerful as desktop apps? The Chrome OS may be one step closer in finding answers to these questions.

Either way, I can’t wait to try it out on my Mac.

[ Google Chrome OS ]

Apple has sent out a final notification that the .Mac HomePage app will be discontinued as of July 7th.

If you have a .Mac Homepage, you’ll still be able to view it, but not edit it or create new pages.

Apple has posted instructions on migrating the content over to MobileMe.

MobileMe replaced .Mac last year as Apple’s internet subscription service.

[ MobileMe Transition FAQ ]

Looking to setup a link between your office and your home? Trying to use secure file sharing, screen control and printing from home? There’s a few routes you can go down, the most secure and reliable being a site to site VPN option, but this get a little expensive for most people. If you’d like that same functionality with about 1/2 of the setup cost, then try using VPN Tracker to authenticate to your office VPN firewall.

Here’s what you’ll need to get started with a home VPN solution-

1. A static IP address at your office. Get this from your Internet Service Provider. It’s generally a few dollars more per month, but keeps your office internet address permanent. For heavy  or multiple users I’d recommend a synchronous connection such as SDSL, T1 or T3. Cable or ADSL will work with up to 5 users with light file sharing (PDF’s, Word and Excel documents).

2. A VPN firewall such as a Sonicwall TZ180. Check out the Equinux website for a list of hardware compatible with VPN tracker. This generally gets installed in your office. Sonicwall has some great security products included with their firewalls including intrusion detection, content filtering and virus scanning.

3. A license to VPN Tracker. There’s three versions, Player, Personal & Professional. If you are the first to get VPN Tracker in your office, start with the Personal version. It allows you to create and modify connections, export configuration files for user with the Player version, but can’t connect to multiple VPN’s at once. The Play version simply connects using a configuration file exported from Pro or Personal and can’t edit or modify the file. If somebody already has the Personal or Professional version, you can use their exported configuration files.

4. Get everything configured. VPN tracker offers easy configuration files based on the model of your VPN firewall, but manual tweaking is still generally required. Not for the faint of heart, but if you have some basic understanding of public/private networks, subnets and IP addressing, you should be able to set everything up.

5. Once you have everything configured, signing on to your VPN is as simple as the click of your mouse. Once connected, utilize file servers and network printers just as though your were at the office.

[ VPN Tracker ]    [ Sonicwall ]