Barkings! | The Small Dog Apple Blog

Move on over Pandora here comes iTunes Radio. Now some of you may be like wait, didn’t iTunes already have a radio. Well, yeah they kind of did, but it certainly wasn’t anything like the services that Pandora and Spotify have been putting out.

With features like purchasing the songs you are streaming from iTunes and Siri integration you really can’t go wrong. iTunes Radio now lets you play by your own rules by picking from your top hits or going into discovery mode to broaden your horizons.

Apple even plays favorites for those customers that use iTunes Match by creating an ad-free streaming session. So you if you opt to pay that tiny fee of $24.99 per year, not only will you get all of the benefits of Match but you will never be disturbed by an ad again.

iTunes Radio will be landing this fall around the time of iOS 7. It is sure to be a big hit for all the iOS users out there. Stay tuned for more updates on this one.

We are now starting to see the new MacBook Airs come into our stores. Boasting better performance with a slower processor is hard to achieve if you are anyone but Apple, but they do it with grace. This round of Air’s has a new SSD architecture to make things run better then smooth. All of these improvements lead to the most notable by far of all the upgrades.

All day battery.

That was not a typo. Apple is claiming their new Airs will have a 9 to 12 hour battery life depending on the screen size you choose. The nice thing about this is that early tests are showing this to be fairly accurate. Of course tests will vary greatly depending on the environment but overall this one looks to be for real.

The icing on this proverbial cake has to be the price tag. The Airs now start at $999 for the 11” with a minimum of 128GB for storage space. With a price like that I foresee these being excellent entry level machines for college kids this fall.

Check out our selection of MacBook Airs on Small Dog’s website here.

Monday kicked off the start of Apple’s week long conference WWDC. This year’s event marks Apple’s 24th show, which, according to Tim Cook, is the longest running conference of its kind. The Keynote presentation delivered by Cook and Apple’s top minds introduced a multitude of new features and products we can expect to see from Apple in the near future.

To start, the latest iteration of OS X was announced. Due to a dwindling number of cat species, the clever folks at Apple chose to code name the next generation of operating systems after famous landmarks in the California area. The upcoming version will be called OS X Mavericks — after a famous surf destination in Cali. With the latest OS will come new features like a Maps app, Finder tabs and performance optimizations (just to name a few).

Of course, Apple isn’t going to forget about the mobile developers it has in the crowd — and so we saw iOS 7 unveiled. iOS 7 has a radically new and simplistic design. The rumors of a flat design turned out to be true — and I, for one, love the new look. The home screen will sport a new parallax design that makes the icons truly feel like they are on top of your background. Stunning full-screen animations bring apps like Weather to life. But Apple didn’t just focus on the aesthetics with iOS 7. New features in some old favorites like Photos plus some new apps altogether like Control Center make iOS 7 a sure fire hit when it gets officially released this fall.

Apple also introduced iTunes Radio. I’m sure some of you are familiar with the concept of streaming radio. Some of you may have even used a service like Pandora or Spotify to listen to a mix of music. Now Apple is stepping in to deliver a similar service, but with the Apple twist of ultimate integration and usability.

Software wasn’t the only thing that got some stage time. Apple also released an update to their MacBook Air line. Now you will be able to go all day long without requiring a power outlet (according to Apple). They boast that the 13-inch model’s battery will last up to 12 hours. Of course, this depends on what you are doing, but Apple stated you could watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy (or 10 hours of iTunes movie playback) on a single charge.

Apple also “broke away from tradition” with this year’s Keynote by giving everyone a sneak peek at the future. Long forgotten at these events, the former powerhouse Mac Pro got a much-needed upgrade. With plenty of teaser clips and fancy music, Apple piqued the interest of the entire audience with this sneak peek.

Finally, the unsung hero award of the presentation has to go to the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule. The new AirPorts sport the latest 802.11ac standard giving you up to 3x the performance. Its unique design allows for what Apple is calling “Beamforming”, a technology that targets your device to give it the best performance it possibly can. Don’t worry though, these new AirPorts are still just as easy to configure as their older brothers and you still have the ability to plug in a hard drive or printer.

Overall, this year’s WWDC Keynote was a hit. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming year, and I am definitely excited to see it all.

Check back all week as we push out more detailed reports on each of these topics.

In yesterday’s Keynote presentation at WWDC 2013, Apple announced a few new products and a bunch of new features for both iOS and OS X. Two products that I feel weren’t given their fair share of the limelight were the new base stations — the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule.

Apple is keeping consistent with the naming convention of AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule, but that is about it. The new base stations have a radically new design. Apple’s engineers wanted to increase the performance and as such, put the antennae at the top of the tower.

Now, the base station stands 6.6” tall with a 4“x4” footprint, giving you more space on your desk for more TPS reports. Not only did they move the antennae, but they added more of them! With a total of six antennae — three for the 2.4GHz band and the remaining three for 5GHz — you will certainly notice the boost in speed.

The changes to the shape have certainly had an impact on speed and efficiency. The new AirPorts are now up to three times faster utilizing the newest 802.11ac technology. This new protocol can theoretically reach data rates of up to 1.3Gbps. However, there is no need to worry if you don’t have any devices that are using 802.11ac — Apple has ensured their backwards compatibility to work with 802.11a/b/g/n as well.

They also support simultaneous dual-band 802.11ac. That means no matter which frequency you are on (2.4GHz or 5GHz) your device will automatically connect to whichever band will give you the fastest speeds. The last performance upgrade is some crazy thing called “Beamforming”. Most base stations emit a constant signal that decreases in strength as you get further away. Beamforming creates a tractor beam (not really but it sounds cool) between your device and the base station, but instead of pulling you in it just gives you the strongest, clearest and fastest signal possible.

Most other features have remained the same. Just like before connecting is as easy as ever. Using either your Mac or compatible iOS device you can set up your home network in three easy steps. Once you have the whole kit-n-caboodle up and running, you can manage the network once again from either your Mac or iOS device. If you opt for the iOS version you will want to download the AirPort Utility App found here..

If you choose the Time Capsule over the Extreme, you will once again be left with the decision between 2TB or 3TB; easy right? And regardless of which model you go with, you still have the ability to print without wires with Apple’s AirPrint technology.

My one gripe is with the ports in the back. Sadly, the AirPort Extreme still has a USB 2 port and not a USB 3. I suppose the engineers at Apple figure the bottleneck will be your network speed and not the USB’s speed but come on, Apple — you’ve already got the tech there, so just use it! Besides that, I simply love this revamp to the AirPort line. I know that I will be getting an Extreme as soon as I can.

As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, it is important to remember this is not just a holiday that marks the unofficial start of summer. Memorial Day is celebrated to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom. While the parades and celebrations are tributes to the brave men and women who have fought to protect us from tyranny, a lasting and real commitment to peace is the highest honor we can pay to soldiers. In these dangerous times, it is more important than ever to honor those who are on duty right now sacrificing so that we can enjoy a free society. We may not all agree with the policies that have put our sons and daughters in harm’s way, but honoring their service, sacrifice, and commitment is the duty of all citizens.

“We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.” – Albert Einstein

As I head out for my traditional motorcycle ride to Maine (hopefully dodging the rain), I always enjoy the unscheduled stops in little New England towns as we wait for the Memorial Day parade to pass.

The weather is not looking that good for the Memorial Day ride, but we have booked rooms at Moosehead Lake and along the coast, so we will ride and try to stay dry. I hope that you have a great holiday weekend!