End User

Canon raises the APS-C bar with the 7D, new lenses

Canonistas have been awaiting the coming of the 7D for years -- they had no idea what sort of camera it would actually be, but they were waiting. Well, it's here, and it's clear that what Canon is seeking to do is to show that, although they have given strong pushes for "full-frame" professional cameras, there is still a role for serious photographers using 1.6x-crop APS-C cameras. With an 18MP sensor -- a new record for APS-C cameras -- 8 fps shooting, a new AF system and, for the first time on a Canon body, an integrated off-camera flash controller, it's clear they're redefining their mid-range line.

They also added a range of new lenses to closely match lenses already in Nikon's line-up in a sign of clear head-to-head competition: The 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, and 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro.

What impressed me as a working photographer is that the 7D's new, bigger viewfinder got headlines in the press-release for 1.0x magnification and 100 percent coverage (compared to the 50D's 0.95 and 95 percent). While a lot of the bells and whistles of modern dSLRs don't matter from day-to-day, viewfinder quality affects the experience of every shot.

As is common with Canon, they brought the best tech they were ready to release to the newest model, even if it outpaces some of the existing, more expensive line-up. Many 5D Mark II owners may look on enviously new 19-point AF system and built-in off-camera flash commander, as well as an improved movie mode that includes an option for 24 fps, the standard for professional filmmaking.

It all sounds great so far, but reviewers' hearts tend to skip a beat when we see cameras crammed to the hilt with megapixels, and if this camera's sensor were extended to full-frame size it would have almost 50MP. This can mean decreased dynamic range and noisier sensors. Further testing in the field will tell, but early samples show that the high ISO ranges, as far as ISO 12,800, are not the noisy mush one might fear, but that there is some very heavy-handed detail-killing noise reduction going on in that range, killing the resolution advantage you'll be paying for with bigger hard drives and memory cards. How that can be changed with a good RAW converter is one variable that remains to be seen.

While the body is of a similar size to to 50D line, the button system and design has been rethought -- at first grab, a 50D user won't even know how to turn the 7D on, since the switch is in a new (and probably better) spot.

In all, it's an aggressive play for "King of the APS-C hill" by Canon, and barring misfortune may have done that job.

Bites from the Apple, Bonus Round: But I Like It, Like It, Yes I Do

Not that this came as a surprise to anyone in the Apple wing of the gadgetosphere, but today Apple sent out official invitations confirming that its annual September digital audio product dog-and-pony show will take place on Wednesday, September 9 at 10am Pacific Time. But the invitation might dash some hopes of a Beatles/Steve Jobs love fest as the tagline reads, "It's only rock and roll, but we like it"--which references a Rolling Stones song, not a Beatles tune. Many in the gadgetosphere had been speculating (once again) that Apple could be rolling out digital versions of The Beatles catalog, and they had a pretty strong case since September 9 is also the day that the group re-releases its catalog as well as debuts its Rock Band video game.

Ars Technica writes that we can expect the entire iPod line to get refreshed, with all models--including the iPod classic--most likely getting integrated cameras. As usual, we'll cover all the last minute rumors in our weekly column on Friday, and we'll also be following the announcement on Wednesday, September 9, so be sure to check back to End User on that day.

And since this is a rather slim news announcement, here's some more Snow Leopard coverage and other bits that I wasn't able to fit into last Friday's Bites:

• If you're wondering if some of OS X 10.5's applications and utilities have disappeared with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard--such as the AppleScript folder, Expose and others--Rob Griffiths at Macworld helps us find where they've been relocated.

• MacNN/Electronista have an extensive review of Snow Leopard, which includes details on the underlying framework of the OS (including Grand Central Dispatch and 64-bit computing), Microsoft Exchange support, and comparisons to the upcoming release of Windows 7.

• If you want to get into the technical nitty gritty of Grand Central Dispatch (which optimizes how Snow Leopard allocates tasks across multi-core processors), check out this Gizmodo post (which is not for the technologically weak-kneed).

• Jonathan Seff at Macworld introduces QuickTime X, the latest version of the video software included with Snow Leopard, which changes the viewer UI to a translucent black and a floating controller, editing options (previously available if you bought the Pro version of QuickTime), and easier exporting options.

• Some wishlist items for the next version of iTunes to be rolled out on September 9 (which, coincidentally, is also very Beatles-friendly at version number 9, number 9, number 9...) from Scott McNulty at Macworld, including my biggest pet peeve--the mandatory inclusion of standard-definition downloads for purchased HD TV episodes. I don't need them, and I'd love to be able to opt out of it.

• Hallelujah! Snow Leopard now allows you to focus your searches to a current selected folder by default (via TUAW).

• There's been some discussion about Snow Leopard's new malware-blocking feature, but Lifehacker reports that it's very limited in scope--looking for just two trojans and scanning in just a few applications.

• 9to5Mac has discovered that the soft keyboard in the new Snow Leopard is more prominantly located in the Keyboard preferences (instead of its location buried in International preferences in Leopard), and can now be stretched and resized. Gee, sounds like it would be great for use on a tablet computer...

• And finally... for a review of the iPod's history, check out this summary timeline at Pocket-lint.

  

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Bites from the Apple: Snow Leopard in the Wild

While perhaps not as momentous an occasion to require The The as background music ("this is the day, your life will surely change..."), Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is officially released today. As most reviewers have pointed out, Snow Leopard is more about streamlining and quickening the operating system as well as focusing on improvements to existing features rather than throwing gobs of new code at the wall and hoping something interesting sticks.

My colleague Jeff Carlson reviewed Snow Leopard in the Seattle Times and says that the speed increase is palpable in newer machines, and he also feels that it's helped give an uptick in speed to his 2006 model MacBook Pro, thereby extending its useful life. It's also sleeker, as David Pogue in the NYTimes notes that the Snow Leopard installation frees up about 7 GB of space (nothing to sneeze at--that's about half a season of LOST episodes in HD). Brian Lam at Gizmodo sums up OS streamlinging thusly: "The little UI tweaks are no different than when a great sculptor's chisel works to remove everything non-essential during the final steps on a statue."

For the most part, most reviewers are giving Snow Leopard positive marks, but some such as Brian Chen at Wired reminds everyone that it's not a radical upgrade, but it is affordable at $30. And Walt Mossberg offers his own reservations at All Things D:

Overall, I believe Snow Leopard will help keep the Mac an appealing choice for computer buyers, and I can recommend it to existing Mac owners seeking more speed and disk space, or wanting to more easily use Exchange. But I don't consider Snow Leopard a must-have upgrade for average consumers. It's more of a nice-to-have upgrade. If you're happy with Leopard, there's no reason to rush out and get Snow Leopard.

If you're wondering what all the hubbub is all about, check out Pocket-lint's overview of what Snow Leopard can--and can't--do for you (the latter being particular to those still using PowerPC hardware). For myself, I'll be upgrading my recently purchased 2009 MacBook Pro via Apple's Up-to-Date upgrade program, but I'll probably wait a bit to upgrade my 2006 Mac mini just to see how Leopard and Snow Leopard interact with each other. What are your thoughts--will you be upgrading this weekend, or waiting a bit until the 10.6.1 update comes out? Let us know in the comments. Now onto more Snow Leopard coverage as well as bits and bytes of other Apple-y goodness from the week that was...

• If you are thinking about upgrading to Snow Leopard this weekend, hit the pause button for a moment and head over to Take Control books and purchase Joe Kissell's Take Control of Upgrading to Snow Leopard ebook. I've used his previous editions as a roadmap when previously upgrading to Tiger and Leopard, and they've been enormously helpful. And with a new installation process used for Snow Leopard (giving you a choice of automatic upgrade or erase & install), this ebook is well worth the 10 clams. While you're at the Take Control site, you should also consider Matt Neuburg's Take Control of Exploring & Customizing Snow Leopard (which can be purchased in a bundle with the Upgrade tome for $20).

• If you don't buy Joe's ebook, at least take his (and John Gruber's) advice to create a cloned/bootable backup of your current system to an external hard drive before upgrading.

• Additionally, for some free advice on upgrading to Snow Leopard, check out Leander Kahney's brief step-by-step posted over at Cult of Mac (which also goes bootable drive backup route) and Gina Trapani's post at Lifehacker (which goes with Time Machine backups for restoring data).

• Another item that could give you pause before upgrading is compatibility with your existing applications. The Apple Blog points to an Apple support page that lists some of the biggest titles that are incompatible with Snow Leopard, including older versions of Parallels as well as some Apple software (Keynote 2.0.2 and earlier and Aperture 2.1.1 and earlier). Also, Cult of Mac reports that Adobe's Creative Suite 3 (CS3) might have some problems with Macs running Snow Leopard based on user forum discussions and conversation with users running the 10.6 Snow Leopard beta (though Adobe says that they should play fine).

• My colleague Glenn Fleishman writes in TidBITS about the improvements to Snow Leopard's handling of the Airport menu, which now includes the ability to see how fast your network is transmitting data (which, he notes, can be useful in finding the right placement for your wireless router).

• More hidden features ("refinements") found in Snow Leopard from the TidBITS staff.

• Apple Matters takes a look at the big cat nomenclature that Apple uses for its operating systems.

• The iPhone isn't the only Apple product to produce lines on its first day of release--Pocket-lint reports (with photo evidence) of a queue formed in front of the Apple Store on Regent Street in London.

• Rumor Revue: The long-rumored/speculated-upon Apple tablet PC may be coming out in more than just a 10-inch model. Gizmodo reports that a source (who, they write, "has always been 100% reliable") says that the iTablet/iTouch will also come out in 13- and 15-inch flavors, with one of them (my guess, the larger) running the full Mac OS X. Ars Technica reports that the classic white plastic MacBook may be getting a design overhaul which would shave off both some millimeters from the enclosure as well as dollars from its list price.

  TUAW reports that the iPod classic could also get a new camera in addition to the previously rumored iPod nano and iPod touch when Apple rolls out its new lineup on September 9 (though that date hasn't been confirmed yet. And speaking of September 9 (aka, Beatles release day), Jason O'Grady at The Apple Core keeps stoking the Beatles/Apple fire with hopes for a limited edition Yellow Submarine-themed iPod touch.

• The Facebook iPhone app (sad to say, it's the app I use the most) got a facelift this week to version 3.0, which overhauls the design with a news feed display that better mirrors the web browser design, ability to "like" items, and choose album destinations for photo uploads.

• Yelp iPhone app got updated to version 3.0 this week and it includes the new augmented reality feature, which activates the camera (3GS only) to view what's before you, while also overlaying nearby places of interest. However, it's an easter egg (i.e., hidden feature) that requires you to shake your iPhone (some sites report one good shake does it, while others report that three is the magic number) to bring up the secret Monocle button to activate the AR feature.

  After downloading the app update last night, I was shaking my iPhone like a crazed 21st century Nikita Khrushchev to get the new feature to work. At which point, my wife asked, "Is this something that's supposed to be making your life better?" Well, that's still to be determined, as the AR feature is really quite shaky, but it could prove useful due to it being tied into the iPhone 3GS's compass for finding places in crowded, confusing areas.

• Another official Apple announcement--the iPhone is coming to China via the Unicom carrier, starting sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. However, the iPhone that's to be sold in China will have its Wi-Fi crippled to comply with Chinese government standards.

• Macworld has a review of the X2 Soccer 2009 iPhone app, giving it 4-1/2 mice. I downloaded the free lite version of the app (which just offers a training mode), and I think it's going to be my preferred soccer game over my previously purchased Real Soccer 2009 from Gameloft as the controls feel much more intuitive.

• And finally... you can now get the iPhone (or the Palm Pre) in the form of soap from Two Eggplants (via CNet's Technically Incorrect blog).

  

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Hands-On with the Altec Lansing iMT800 Mix Speaker Dock for iPod/iPhone

Altec Lansing has been making iPod docks for a while, but the new iMT800 Mix should grab your attention for two keys reasons:

It docks, charges, and controls the iPhone--even the latest iPhone 3G S--without the need for Airplane mode.

It's loud.

The first point alone makes the Mix stand out. iPhone users have been left out in the cold for a while when it comes to iPod docks; with hundreds of choices available on the market for regular iPods, only a few have been able to work with the iPhone and then usually only in Airplane mode. The Mix, however, welcomed my 32 GB iPhone 3G S with open arms. It controlled perfectly, with none of the chirping or buzzing that may sound familiar to you if you've left a cell phone near a pair of speakers for any length of time. Finally I can stream Pandora or imeem Mobile while charging my iPhone in an iPod dock, and let me tell you, it's sweet.

Second, this thing is built for volume. Barring notable exceptions like the B&W Zeppelin, many iPod docks tend towards the small side, geared toward a desktop or cubicle. The Mix is a full-fledged boombox, with two 5.25" woofers, two 3" mid-range drivers, and two 1" horn tweeters. During my first dry run, with both the Mix and the docked iPhone at 50% volume, it more than filled the medium-sized room we were testing in. The mids and tweeters are forward-firing while the side-firing woofers angle slightly to the rear, so sound dispersion is huge.

The Mix features three ways to listen to music: an FM radio, the iPod dock (of course), and there are two auxillary slots on top of the unit through which you can attach anything with a 3.5mm jack. Two male-to-male 3.5mm cables are even included in the box. Also included are a large number of interchangeable trays to fit whichever version of iPod or iPhone you're docking. So if you bring the Mix to a party, say, you can switch back and forth between the radio and three of your friends' MP3 players for a huge selection of music.

 

Switch between FM radio and multiple attached MP3 players with ease

There are several options for controlling a docked iPod/iPhone. You can, of course, simply use the controls on the docked iPod itself, or you can use the control buttons on the top front of the unit, or you can use the included IR remote. The slim remote sits in its own slot in the top rear of the Mix when not in use, and features a caribiner-style clip to keep on a belt loop or bag. The remote will control the radio and a docked iPod/iPhone, but can't control an auxillary-attached MP3 player (although it can switch to and from it as a source). There's an LCD screen on the front above the dock for album and artist information, system status, and for the 7-band graphical equalizer. You can even customize the power-on message with custom text--not a crucial feature, but a nice touch nonetheless.

 

The IR remote slides into its own housing when not in use

Another nice touch is the bracer around the iPod dock. The Mix is clearly intended to be moved around, thanks to the grab handles on each side of the unit, and the recessed position of the dock plus the bar means you can be reasonably assured that it'll stay secure while moving around a party or heading to the beach. Speaking of moving around, it's worth mentioning here that for a boombox with a class D amplifier in it, the Mix is pretty light for its size--I had no problem carting it around with one hand, though to be fair I didn't have the 8 D batteries in it required to run it without AC power either.

 

The bracer bar along with included matching dock trays keeps attached iPods/iPhones secure

The one thing I'll say about the grab handles: don't be too casual with them. Even though grabbing one of the side handles means carrying the Mix vertically, it's not designed to stand on its side. The woofer grilles protrude a little from the sides, and there are a lot of sharp angles, so either use the handle on top or be sure to take care when setting the Mix down. The Mix is not fragile, but it's not ruggedized either. (Maybe they should rubberize the Mix's corners on the next iteration?)

So how does it actually sound? Pretty darn good. In particular, the horn-loaded tweeters and mid-range drivers deliver incredibly crisp highs and mids that don't get harsh or sibilant at loud volumes. Bass is huge, especially if you have a wall or similar to reflect sound from the side-firing speakers off of, and will be more than enough to please an entire roomful of partygoers.  I did notice that bass does start to muddy a bit at volumes above 65% or so; room acoustics will matter a lot here. At volumes 50% or below (which is more than loud enough for a room with a few people in it) the sound is rich and full. Even streaming Pandora on my iPhone, which uses compressed audio when streaming on AT&T's 3G network, sounded warm and clear and was very forgiving of compression artifacts.

In addition to the obvious party applications, the Mix makes perfect sense for a dorm room, kitchen, small office, poolside, garage, or anywhere else people might be congregating with their own MP3 players in hand.

The Altec Lansing iMT800 Mix has an MSRP of $299 and is available for pre-order now.

--Aric A.

New FlipShare Software

Flip Video’s FlipShare software comes pre-loaded on Flip camcorders and launches automatically when you connect the camcorder to your laptop or desktop. The software allows you to manage your videos. There’s no extra software disc needed. Plus, FlipShare works on both PCs and Macs.

FlipShare's intuitive design lets you view your videos in full-screen mode. You can save and organize your videos on your computer by creating folders of your choosing and simply dragging and dropping your videos into the desired folders. FlipShare also features instant uploads to YouTube, MySpace and other sites. And FlipShare lets you email links to your videos to your family and friends. This is much more convenient than trying to send an e-mail with a massive attachment which usually just stays in the outbox, never sending.

In mid-June, Flip announced an update to the FlipShare software. The newest version of FlipShare was recently released, and it offers several new features that make it an even better tool for sharing your videos:

• FlipShare now lets you create Flip Channels to share your Flip videos with specific groups of family and friends. So if you’ve just gone on vacation with a group of friends, you can create a Flip Channel for that group of friends and share your vacation videos with them—and only them. If you perhaps want to share one or two of your vacation videos with your coworkers, you can create a different Flip Channel for that group.
• If you like to frequently share videos with a parent or a good friend, create a Flip Channel for them too; when you have new content you want to share, simply drag and drop those videos into the Flip Channel, directly on your FlipShare desktop. Flip Channel members will receive an e-mail notifying them they have new videos to watch.
• Videos sent via Flip Channels can now be viewed anytime, anywhere at FlipShare.com. Members of Flip Channels will have an online library allowing them to access all the content you’ve chosen to share with them.
• The snapshot capture feature, which lets you grab a still image from your video, has been vastly improved too. Now, enhanced freeze-frame capabilities let you grab a snapshot from any of the thirty frames that comprise each second of your video—meaning it’s now easier than ever to get that perfect snapshot with no blurring.

There is talk of a forthcoming FlipShare iPhone application. Eventually, you’ll soon be able to view your Flip Videos totally on-the-go.

Download the new Flipshare

--Brandon M. Baker

The Remote Desktop Experience on Windows 7

I’ve been a big fan of Remote Desktop since it was introduced in Windows XP, and in my opinion this feature is one of the most important reasons to choose XP Pro, Vista Business/Ultimate or Windows 7 Pro/Ultimate rather than the Home editions. Although the Home editions include the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client, they do not include the RDP host service. Thus you can use a Home edition computer to connect to the desktop of a Pro/Business/Ultimate machine, but you can’t connect to the Home machine’s desktop remotely (unless you use some sort of third party software or service, such as pcAnywhere or GoToMyPC).

I have two main desktop systems: my “upstairs office” computer, a Dell XPS dual core currently running Windows 7 RC, and my “downstairs” computer, an HP Core i7 (Nehalem) running Windows 7 RTM. For various reasons, sometimes I need to work in one location and sometimes in the other. I like being able to move from one computer to the other and take up where I left off working, without the need to close documents on one system and find and reopen them on the other. I can just start an RDP session and work on my downstairs computer while I’m upstairs, or vice versa.

The remote desktop experience has gotten better with each generation of Microsoft operating system. Windows 7 RDP includes a number of important improvements.

Windows 7 RDP provides better multiple monitor support, so that you can expand the remote desktop across all monitors regardless of the client monitor configuration.  This was possible with Vista’s “span mode,” but is much easier to implement on Windows 7. All you have to do is check a box on the display tab in the Remote Desktop Client 7.0, which is included with Windows 7 (mstsc.exe).

In Vista, monitor spanning worked only if your primary monitor on the client machine was on the left, your monitors had the same vertical resolution, and the total of all resolutions was no more than 4096 x 2048. In Windows 7, the client monitors can be arranged any way you want and there are no restrictions on the resolution. Under the hood, Vista span mode sees the multiple monitors as one big monitor, whereas in Windows 7, each is presented to applications as a separate monitor.

Another great feature in Windows 7 RDP is full support for Aero glass – well, almost. The remote desktop experience isn’t completely the same as being at the local machine. As indicated by my remark above, you can get the Aero Glass effect over the RDP connection – unless you choose to have your remote desktop span monitors.  In other words, you can have monitor spanning or you can have Glass, but you can’t have both. But when using a single monitor, Glass works great – as long as you have a Vista or Windows RDP client computer. You don’t get Aero when connecting to your Windows 7 computer from XP.

There are also “under the hood” improvements to RDP that speed up the performance of RDP, and you can now get the full user experience when playing DirectShow videos over RDP (you need to install the appropriate codecs on the client). Additionally, RDP now supports two-way audio (previously it was “audio out” only).

If you love Remote Desktop, you’re likely to love it even more with Windows 7.

- Debra Littlejohn Shinder, MVP (Enterprise Security)
  deb@shinder.net    www.debshinder.com

Parallels courts Windows refugees with 'Switch to Mac' package

With both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard set to be released in the coming weeks, more people than usual may be contemplating the eternal question of whether to go with Mac OS X or Windows for their next computer. Renton-based virtualization company Parallels Inc. is betting that some people would rather have both on the same machine.

Parallels, which competes with VMware, today introduced a new "Switch to Mac" product based on its program for running Windows on Apple computers. The $99.99 package includes that Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 virtualization program, two hours of Mac video tutorials for erstwhile Windows users, plus a high-speed transfer cable and "transporter" software for moving files and data from a Windows PC to a Mac. The package is $20 more than buying Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 alone, at the suggested retail price. (Amazon.com currently offers a lower price for the standalone version.)

Mary Starman, director of consumer marketing for Parallels and a former member of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, said she knows how disorienting the Windows-to-Mac switch can be, having made the transition herself during her time at the Redmond company. She said the timing of the "Switch to Mac" product release, was not related specifically to the upcoming launch of Windows 7 and Snow Leopard, but was more related to market trends.

"We're definitely seeing that there is a new customer segment out there that you would call a 'switcher' -- someone who has traditionally been Windows-focused, but who has decided that they want to make the move to Mac," Starman said. 

It's not all about Mac hardware at the company. Parallels is also developing a program to let people run Windows XP on their Windows 7 machines, as an alternative to the "Windows XP mode" virtualization technology that Microsoft is expected to offer.

Read more of Todd Bishop's posts at TechFlash.com, and follow him on Twitter @toddbishop

Shoot-and-Share your Next Video Adventure

I can remember the massive 10lb BetaMax camcorder my dad had on his shoulder as he recorded every moment before my sister left for her first formal High School dance. The young man picking her up was terrified enough, but when you add in my father staring him down through the eyepiece of his BetaMax, his hands were trembling as he tried to pin on the corsage. The 60 minute tape that came out of this ordeal is now lost to the annals of technical obsolescence (RIP Beta). But even when we did watch it, we had to fast forward through unnecessary footage that used up the tape.

Technology has evolved since the mid 1980s. Camcorders are smaller, with better battery-life, and record in a more ubiquitous format.  Along with technical enhancements, the camcorder market has expanded. Professional camcorders are now available for consumers looking for detailed control with a wide array of options. On the other end of the spectrum, easy to use no frills camcorders have emerged into the marketplace in recent years. If professional camcorders are the SLRs of video, these smaller cams are the point & shoot. That is why Amazon has broken out this category under the name Shoot & Share.

If you are looking for a camcorder that you can pull out of your pocket and start recording at a moment’s notice and then post the footage to YouTube, FaceBook, or another media sharing site, then a shoot-and-share camcorder is all that you need.

Over the past few weeks, I took one of the best-selling shoot-and-share camcorders, the Flip Mino HD, out to the theater where I perform, as well as my back-yard, to see what kind of footage I could grab. I was able to start recording at a moment’s notice. The next morning, I was able to plug the camcorder directly into my laptop and start uploading. With the flick of a switch, the USB flipped out and let me plug right in and start looking at my videos. For this first foray I tried out uploading to TwitVid and YouTube. Both worked great and let me capture some of the insane silliness that comes with being an improvisational comedian or pug owner.

I was not able to do any manipulation of my footage, but I didn’t need to. A shoot-and-share camcorder is all about ease of use and quick sharing. The main options you have to choose from with a  shoot-and-share are HD or standard def, what kind of zoom (if any), and fixed or expandable memory. Anything beyond those choices, and you are missing the point of the category: simplicity.

My dad didn't need a 10lb massive-cam to embarrass my sister and her date. In today's market, he could have done it with a 3.3 ounce shoot-and-share.

--Brandon M. Baker

Snow Leopard Gets Officially Official, Ships August 28

It seems the rumors of an early appearance of the new Apple cat on the block were right on the mark, with Apple announcing this morning that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard would be officially shipping on August 28--beating Apple's original estimate of a release in the month of September. It comes as a single user license for a nicely affordable $29 as well as a family pack with five licences for $49. Additionally, you can get Snow Leopard bundled together with the latest editions of iLife (with iPhoto ’09, iMovie ’09, GarageBand ’09, iWeb ’09, and iDVD) and iWork (Pages ’09, Numbers ’09, and Keynote ’09) in single and family pack versions.

And, if you've purchased new Mac hardware (such as the new 15-inch and 13-inch MacBook Pros) since June 8 of this year, you can get Snow Leopard for just $10 (plus shipping and handling) via Apple's Up-to-Date upgrade program. The trick is you've got to make the Snow Leopard Up-to-Date order within 90 days of the hardware purchase (or by December 26, 2009--whichever comes first).

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Plantronics Introduces New 975 Bluetooth Headset

A couple months back, I lamented the fact that I'd accidentally run my Plantronics 925 Bluetooth headset through the washing machine and was looking for recommendations for a new headset. Well, I never found another headset that felt as good in my ear with its gel earpieces or worked as well as the 925 (see my mini review), so I hopped back on the train and got another model. However, if I could have waited just a bit longer, I could have updated to the 925's sequel--the just announced Plantronics Discovery 975.

The 975 retains the jewelry-like emphasis on design from the 925, and the microphone boom has become even sleeker, going to a one-piece boom from the open V-shape of its predecessor. It also replaces the 925's LED earpiece (which lit up to show connectivity) with a leather-like covering. And it retains a distinctively Plantronics look and feel thanks to what Darrin Caddes, vice president of design for Plantronics, in an interview with Fast Company calls "the 'power funnel'--the pinched transition from the headset's body to the slender boom. Every Plantronics headset has that element in some way or another. It was inspired by the shape of a tuning fork, where the tines curve into the handle."

Aside from the design, the 975 has also been blessed with the latest versions of Plantronics technologies, including the AudioIQ 2 dual-microphone noise cancellation and WindSmart wind-noise reduction. Additionally, the charging case (with integrated rechargeable battery) has been updated to include a small LCD screen that shows the remaining battery life of both the case and the headset. And by storing the headset in the case, Plantronics claims that you'll receive up to triple the talk time (up to 15 hours) of the headset.

I've found with the 925 that the case really is an integral part of the headset's package, and not only for its battery life-lengthening properties. I find that the 925 is so lightweight and thin that it would fly out of my pocket without my noticing. Thusly, I always pop the 925 into what my wife calls my "lipstick case" (an assessment that CNet's Crave agrees with) when I'm done with it, and then put the whole thing into my pocket. I can only imagine that I'd have the same issue with the 975 (with both headsets having the same 8-gram weight).

The Plantronics Discovery 975 is available for pre-order now.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz