Well, this is when it starts to get interesting, the new MacBook Air is shaping up to be an amazing product. With 11.6-inch 64GB MacBook Air stocks already running out that speaks volumes about how popular it is, and this release from Photofast just ups the ante!

The release from Photofast is a 256GB SSD USB drive - I think, not clear on how it works yet, going to have to wait and see - which conceivably doubles the maximum capacity of the new MacBook Air machines. Which is great for the memory junkies out there who feel the need to have 500GB even if they aren’t going to use it who are desperate for the ‘instant on’ which only the MacBook Air with its SSD currently provides. Interestingly Photofast promise speeds of 250MB/s, a 30% performance boost in comparison to the built in SSD by Apple with just 150-160MB/s speeds.

To be honest though, none of that applies to me, I don’t have $1500 to spend on a top of the range 13-inch 256GB MacBook Air. However, i’m still overwhelmed with glee and excitement by this announcement from Photofast as they allegedly plan  to offer 64GB/128GB/256GB SSD upgrades. This applies a little more to me, because i’m now thinking about buying the relatively affordable 11.6-inch 64GB MacBook Air which I never even considered before because of the lack of memory, now though I could buy the 11.6-inch 64GB model and add 64GB, 128GB, or even 256GB if I feel like splashing out and have a rather powerful machine, I mean even with the first - 64GB - it would leave me with 128GB of space, if i’m honest, thats more than the average user will ever need! Anyway, just wanted to give my two cents. Huwbert out.

it’s called Project ROME, and it looks great. by the looks of it i’m not entirely sure what it is if i’m honest! from the video it looks to be a desktop publisher, sort of microsoft publisher, but better - thats probably a bad example, i mean do they even make publisher any more? - though it also allegedly allows you to edit graphics, photos, text, video, audio, animation and ‘interactivity’, how the FUCK do you edit interactivity? anyway, i digress.

it’s currently available for free as a demo though apparently ‘Project ROME’s final availability, pricing, and feature set are still under review, so visit this site often for updates. Once available, it will be offered as a paid subscription.’ sounds pretty good, though i don’t think i’d pay for it annually, i’d really rather pay a couple of hundred to just have the application. though, i think i see why their planning to do it as a subscription, for alternative version of ROME; ‘ROME for Education’ - inventive name, i know. i do think this will be a pretty big success though, currently a lot of schools shell out for a volume license of the adobe suite, which is good, you get a variety of different apps for different things, but, because the only people using it are pupils, all the great pro features just go unused and it is a bit of a waste of money, ROME on the other hand looks to cover all the bases: graphics, photos, text, video, audio, animation and the illusive ‘interactivity’, but it will only include the bare essentials, the stuff people actually use.

i think this is a big step for adobe, in the future i think all of the separate apps in the creative suite will be targeted solely at professionals for the pro features while the mainstream will be encouraged to use ROME, which will hopefully provide everything the average person would need on a day to day basis. i also think this is why they’ve gone for an interface which is more easy on the eyes, something the average user will appreciate and probably make it easier to use for them.

so, check it out, both ROME and ROME for Education are currently available for windows and os x as a web app or a desktop app, though to use the desktop app your required to use Adobe AIR - yuck - more importantly, version 2 of Adobe AIR, which won’t be a problem for most people though for me and my elderly imac g5 which can only run Adobe AIR 1.5, it is a problem. for now i’m going to have to use the web app, though i do prefer to have the application on my computer just so i don’t have to go on the internet every time i use it. i recon this is going to be the first time in a while fluid - fluidapp.com - is going to come in useful! anyway, i’ll try and get round to doing a review of ROME and maybe fluid as well actually, because it is a very interesting app. so, thats me done, you can find ROME and of course ROME for Education here:

rome.adobe.com/

huwbert out.

i’ve really got my fingers crossed the new macbook air is going to be cheap. my imac g5 is lovely, but that fact it gets itself into a tizzy if i try to play a youtube video is really rather off-putting. as i’ve already said in a previous post os x 10.7 is going to be my almost valid reason for an upgrade, and i think the new macbook air is going to be my best bet.

starting college next year i’m wanting something portable, and the macbook air is one up on that; it’s REALLY portable. it can run windows, for my moments of insanity when i want to run windows - though, ‘want’ isn’t the word, it’s usually ‘need’, for compatibility and such using microsoft office, though that will hopefully be solved with office for mac 2011, which i sadly can not run on my imac g5! also, i don’t need masses of memory, i’m not a heavy user, 80% of the time it’s just the internet, music, tweetie, windows live and sparrow! the other 20% is when on occasion i have a project and need to use iwork, ilife or photoshop or indesign. my only other request is a built in cd drive, i don’t think i could put up with carrying a superdrive with me, sadly it’s really quite unclear about weather the macbook air will be getting a cd drive or not. if you have a better insight into that please let me know and tell me more! as thats what is shrouding the idea of getting a macbook air with doubt for me!

so, i hope you can see why i’m hoping beyond hope it will be very, very cheap, it would be a mac which would fulfill all of my needs, portability, function, and hopefully price. i would buy a mac mini, but what alludes me is that if i would have to buy an apple display as well, and that would actually result in it being bloody expensive! that and its not exactly portable unless you have a display (and preferably a keyboard and mouse, i wouldn’t like to carry them around as well) where ever you’re going!

but yeah, i just wanted to have a short (i know, i’m funny aren’t i?) rant about that. $800 would be ideal! although i know that is NEVER going to happen, though i would happily pay $1000, if it’s any higher than that, i think apple have lost out on a large target market: people who need a cheap, and more importantly, portable, apple device. don’t anyone dare say the ipad is a cheap portable apple device, that doesn’t count! if it’s anything greater than $1000, i think i might just wait a little longer and get a low-end macbook. huwbert out.

so many great beta app’s this week. i downloaded justnotes a couple of days ago and i’m loving it so far! the app has built in syncing with simplenote for ios which is really useful when i’m on the go. simplenote and justnotes have replaced the default notes app on the ipod touch. although justnotes is really functional there is definitely still room for improvement, the icon is in my opinion pretty ghastly so ive replaced it with the default ios notes app - one thing about the default app i really like! - also the graphics within the app aren’t exactly great with the cog for the preferences looking a little jagged, however i’m sure as the app moves out of beta these will improve.

the only other issue is that as far as i know you actually have to go into the applications preferences to quit it! another thing which i’m sure will change if enough people moan about it! regardless of the aesthetics of the app the syncing with simplenote has proved really useful while i’ve been using it as well as justnotes supporting hot-keys which has definitely helped my productivity.

admittedly i cant understand a word he’s saying, but its a great app for mac os x. pool by dropping, inc. looks great, really visual way of managing my to-do’s which i love because i’m not usually interested unless it looks pretty, and not only is it pretty, but it does everything a task management app should do, you can group task and set a deadline for a task to be done. also an added extra is that you can assign an application to a task so that when you wanted to to the task; say writing a essay, you could click on it and it will launch microsoft word, pages, bean, whatever you use. it makes the production process just a little easier which is always good. admittedly the price is VERY steep at $14.95 but they do offer a trial version, of which i’m yet to figure out what the limitations are because after a month or two it’s still working perfectly normal for me! oh and the icon looks pretty great as well.