Don’t believe it when folks say that the Macworld | iWorld show floor is primarily filled with iOS accessories—the community of document scanner makers is quite well represented too. At least seven different companies have scanners on display at this week’s event.
Continuing a trend that we saw last year, many scanner companies are relying on their cloud capabilities rather than their hardware to differentiate themselves.
He mentions Doxie’s Go scanner, Neat Company‘s NeatReceipts and NeatDesktop products (powered by subscription-based NeatCloud), Fujitsu’s ScanSnap scanners, and Ambir, which partnered with NewSoft for the Mac versions of the TravelScan Pro and TravelScan Pro Duplex. NewSoft also showed a Mac utility that scans the OS X Address Book and syncs with iCloud.
It’s interesting to see how scanners, a category of devices many would have called “boring” five years ago, has been revitalized by iOS devices and the cloud. Most of these products have cloud-related functionalities built-in, usually in the form of Dropbox and Evernote integration for publishing scanned documents, or backing up entire libraries of PDFs. They come with desktop and mobile applications, too, that often allow for wireless syncing through Eye-Fi cards, thus cutting the need for a cord entirely.
On the iOS side, another trend that can only grow as the hardware gets better is camera-based scanning software. The App Store is full of possible solutions to turn your iPhone into a scanner; because it’s software, developers can augment these apps with updates and new features at any time. iOS scanning tools will never be a replacement for “real” scanners if you need to go paperless with 10 years worth of documents, but they can serve as the primarily solution for many people that are starting now with only a few business cards and small receipts. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple coming out with its own scanning app in the future, as a cool hardware showcase for a new iPhone.
IDG, which runs the annual Macworld Expo, yesterday revealed that the event is being renamed to Macworld | iWorld – recognising that the event has grown beyond just Macs and now includes the ever-growing popularity of iOS. IDG also began registration for the renamed Macworld | iWorld expo which will run for three-days betweeen January 26 and 28 next year.
The brand is evolving from Macworld [Expo] to Macworld | iWorld to illustrate that the show is about the whole ecosystem of Apple products.
The event will be similar to previous Macworld expos with exhibits and conference sessions but will also feature what IDG is calling “dynamic culture experience[s]“. One such example is the ‘Music Experience showcase’ which will feature musicians that use Apple technology in the creation of their music in live performances and talks, another such experience will be the Film Event.
The event organisers are quick to point out that despite the name change, the Mac hasn’t been forgotten, in fact if anything it will be bigger than ever next year and according to the event organiser, Paul Kent, they are looking for “a heavy influence of OS X developers on the show floor this year”. Passes for Macworld | iWorld start from $25 and you can find more information from the Macworld | iWorld website.
MacBook Air SSD upgrade provides big storage, mixed speed result
Once the storage upgrade was installed, we found the added capacity to be a blessing, but our performance results were unexpectedly mixed. The marketing materials for the Mercury Aura Pro Express claim that the drives offer up to 68 percent faster performance than the stock flash storage. In order to see such a vast a difference between the MacBook Air’s flash storage and the Mercury Aura Pro Express, we had to use automated tests that task the MacBook Air in ways that most people wouldn’t use an ultra-portable.
In conclusion, the only reason you’d need to buy a Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD is for additional storage, and not necessarily for the advertised performance benefit. The upshot is that the SSD is ridiculously simple to replace (OWC includes a pentalobe screwdriver with the purchase). While expensive, OWC sells 320 GB and 480 GB capacity drives that cost $1,096.99 and $1,499.99 respectively. This is on top of an already pricey MacBook Air purchase, and unless you really need those extra gigabytes, I don’t know if the cost of entry is justified. Where OWC’s solution might have the advantage, however, is in longevity. The company claims that their SSD solution maintain their write speeds over a prolonged period of time thanks to their wear-leveling technologies. OWC’s Mercury Aura Pro Express SSDs are one of the only upgrades you can pimp your MacBook Air out with, but before you make that purchase, I’d consider reading James Galbraith’s in depth review for all the hard numbers.
Here’s a 48-minute video for your typical Sunday morning: at Macworld Expo 2011, Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, Macworld’s Jason Snell and Dan Moren and Tidbits’ Adam Engst talk about the future of the Mac, the Mac App Store as the biggest innovation happening to the platform, the iOS influences on OS X and much more.
One argument that really made me think after watching the video is the idea of two kinds of Macs in the future: a “simplified Mac” with a closed system similar to iOS, and a Mac for advanced users. I don’t know how I would react to a closed, straightforward and really simple Mac personally, but I do know that I would appreciate a new system for managing and deleting apps. Perhaps Launchpad will bring some fresh air on Lion. But then again, should Apple just make the Mac as simple as possible and let “power users” enable the features they want (like, say, the Finder) in the machine’s preferences? And how does the Mac App Store fit in all this? Great discussion in the video above.
Apple may have stopped attending Macworld and announcing new products there, but the expo is doing well. So well that, according to stats provided by CultOfMac, more than 25,000 attendees are expected to walk around booths at the Moscone Center where 230 exhibitors will launch 100 new products. The show’s numbers are up from last year, when they dramatically dropped since Apple confirmed they wouldn’t go to Macworld anymore.
The show is shaping up good,” Macworld general manager Paul Kent told CultofMac.com. “If the numbers go right, we’re going to have about a 25% increase in attendance.
It’s a really fun time,” said Kent. “Macworld is a celebration. There’s a high joy quotient. It’s a fun place to be. There’s not a lot of places were people can do this any more.
We won’t be at Macworld, but we will try to aggregate, starting today through Saturday, the best new accessories, apps and Mac software we’ll be notified of. For all the details about the expo and the schedule of events, go here.
Macworld, the decade-long printed and digital publication on all things Apple, has released a free app for the iPad today that takes full advantage of the tablet’s unique form factor and brings the best of Macworld.com to the device. The Daily Reader app, in fact, is a selection of the best content from the website, and not a replica of the printed magazine available to subscribers every month. In Daily Reader, you’ll find popular content from Macworld organized in sections you can also access from a navigation bar at the top.
I’ve just tried the app for a few minutes and it’s quite nice. You can increase / decrease font size, flick through sections with a swipe. I did not like the poor layout of some article clearly taken out of Macworld’s RSS feed without formatting for the iPad; this was an isolated issue though. Most of the articles have been updated with graphics and banners that look really great on the iPad. The app takes a few seconds to load contents and images, there is advertising between articles and sections but, again, it feels good. I also like the fact that there is a box on the right side to access a live feed of authors from Macworld. You can share articles on Twitter / Facebook / Email and bookmark them for later reading into a specific page inside the app.
Unlike many blogs’ apps for the iPad and iPhone, Macworld Daily Reader is really, really nice in my opinion. The layout is clean and there’s lots of information to look at. Here’s to hoping the app will be regularly updated with new content. In the meantime, go download the app here and take a look at more screenshots and promo video below. (more…)
2010 was a big year for the Mac. The beginning of the year was all about the iPad—followed by the iPhone. But the buzz and success of those two products trickled down to the Mac. Later in the year, we saw upgrades to the Mac lineup, as well as solid signs from Apple that the Mac hasn’t been forgotten. With record sales of Macs posted by Apple, it’s a very good time to make products for the Mac.
Some curious choices, but I’m glad gems like Instapaper, Text Expander and Pogoplug Pro made the list. I wonder if Tweetie 2 for Mac will be there next year.
