Today, I held an iPhone 4. It just so happened that I was in the U.S. today, and ventured into an AT&T store hoping to see one up close and personal. With my luck, there happened to be a rep in the store who let me play with hers for a while.

Warm Reception
The first thing that I had to try out was to try to duplicate the widely publicized reception issues I had been reading about all over the web. According to what I’ve read, if you hold the phone in your left hand, and block the lower-left corner of the phone with your palm (or almost any other part of your hand), you start losing reception to the point of the iPhone losing connection with the carrier (AT&T). I tried to recreate the problem firmly gripping the phone in my left hand. I did notice one or two bars disappear, but that was it. I then placed my thumb completely over the lower-left corner, the part where the two pieces of steel connect to each other. Again, from the reports I read, this was the most problematic area in terms of reception issues. To my surprise, I noticed nothing. No dramatic loss in reception, no drop of the carrier signal. When holding the iPhone (again in my left hand) as a normal person should/would, I notice nothing.

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Apple released their highly anticipated tablet today called the iPad and as expected it’s crazy-mind blowing, the only question I have is, “who would benefit from a device like this?”

Without getting into all the specifications, you can get them here what does the iPad do best? The iPad seems to really shine when surfing the web, looking at photos, accessing your email, looking at information like your calendar, watching movies and even playing iPhone App based games. The iPad also has a seamless interface like the iPhone and iPod Touch that literally takes the learning curve out of using a product like this. These are all important things, but what about using it for other possible day to day operations like photo importing and editing, word processing, video editing, audio recording, graphics and web design, video conferencing and even more…

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I just love this ad; probably the best one yet:

I have been hoping and wishing for some time now that Apple would add Tethering Data information on the iPhone in the Settings/General/Usage area and low and behold with the latest iPhone 3.1.2 update my wish has been granted!

This is wonderful news for me as I regularly use Tethering from my iPhone to my MacBook Pro 13 inch when I am away from home and need an Internet connection. Just this past week I was away in Whistler at a Vender conference and the Hotel Internet was very slow, so I switch over to my  Tethered connection. I actually found the Canadian Rogers 3G Data connection to be much faster in this case, surprisingly it almost feels like regular a high speed land connection!

I have been a bit hesitant using Tethering on a regular basis because up until now I had no idea how much data Tethering has been sucking back. Now that I can see how much data I am using, I’m finding that with a 6GB data package I should be just fine as long as I don’t over-do-it.

Here’s what the new Settings/General/Usage page looks like with the Tethering Data added.

From the early reviews I’ve read online via Engadget and Walt Mossburg, Mac OS X Snow Leopard seems to be getting positive feedback, mainly due to a few new GUI (graphic user interface) tweaks, smaller installation, increased speed, and refreshingly low upgrade price ($29).

I tend to like New York Time’s Technology Columnist David Pogue’s review of Snow Leopard best. He does a great job of comparing Operating Systems to building blocks. That may sound a little strange, but when you watch his video, it all makes sense.

Another interesting thing to note: A number of websites are reporting that Mac OS X Tiger users are also successfully upgrading their Macs to Snow Leopard with the $29 disc without having to buy the $169 boxset as stated by Apple. Keep in mind though, that you’ll need an Intel Mac if you want to run it. That means, a Mac that was purchased no longer than about 2006. Sorry Bondi Blue iMac; you’re plain out of luck!

(Posted by Paul)

It looks like snow might be a bit early this year; Snow Leopard that is. Apple’s newest operating system hits the stores on August 28th, and you can be sure that MVT will be right behind this release with an update to Quick Start Your Mac.

This “FREE” update will consist of a series of videos that address the new features of Mac OS 10.6. This update will be available to new and existing customers online by clicking on the Update/Bonus video button from within our course. Watch for this update in the coming weeks ahead!

(Posted by Paul)

As reported by Electronista, Canada now has 10% share of the Canuck PC market. I know that I’ve been a loyal Mac user since the early 90’s, with my very first purchase a PowerBook 170. Since then, I’ve owned more Macs than I care to mention with my latest purchase being a Mac Book Pro 13-Inch.

With all of the switchers moving over to the Mac platform in the last several years, I can’t think of too many of my friends and relatives who aren’t yet using a Mac. In fact, there’s a few of them who started out owning an iPod, soon realized how cool Apple hardware was before they went out and bought their first Mac.

(Posted by Paul)

I’m quite excited about the new features that were added in today’s release of  Logic Studio. Among the dozens of tweaks, new features, and updates is a whole new guitar processing component of the program including 25 legendary amps, 25 speaker cabinets, and 30 new stompboxes. They really sound great and are super easy to use and are customize too.

If you’re using GarageBand and feel the need to take the next step and move up to Logic, you’ll really appreciate all it has to offer. If you’re new to recording music on your computer, GarageBand is more than most people need to make music on a Mac. Remember to check out our Quick Start to GarageBand course by MacVideoTraining.com

(Posted by Paul)