Continue reading »]]> I’ve just been notified by my WordPress system that 3.0 has now officially arrived.

I’ve just installed the update and from what I can see, there’s no major overhaul. However, there are a few minor adjustments that make a big difference. Updating plugins has become much quicker with the new updates page on the Dashboard. In addition, a few cosmetic changes have made browsing the WordPress Dashboard much more straightforward and intuitive.

If you want to grab the new update, either do an automatic upgrade from your WordPress Dashboard, or head to wordpress.org and download it from there!

Continue reading »]]> It’s good to know that USB 3.0 is expected to start arriving on PCs and laptops from the end of this year.

The new Superspeed USB means that transfer speeds will rise from 480mbps to a whopping 5gbps. That means that if you are constantly transferring big files to USB drives, you’re in luck.

It’s being predicted that the new USB format will start shipping towards the end of the year, with it being available in a few high-end PCs. From 2010, it’s expected that about 26 million PCs will ship with USB 3.0. And by 2012, it’s expected that the number of PCs with USB 3.0 will be way over 300 million.

I’m very excited by the news, but it does mean that my laptop and PC will probably need upgrading. I can probably just upgrade the motherboard in the PC, but in the laptop it will be a bit more difficult. In addition, all of my USB 2.0 devices will seem horribly slow after USB 3.0 arrives.

Ah well, no worries for now. But you know, it’s a bit of a pain when you have so many outdated USB devices that transfer really slowly. Never mind.

Continue reading »]]> Apple’s 3.0 OS for iPod Touch and iPhone was released earlier this evening, and GEEK! was of course right at the front of the queue. I’ve downloaded the update and installed it to my 8GB iPod Touch, so now everything is going fine and I’ve had a little time to play around with the new firmware, I thought I’d write a review for it.

Please note that this is a review for the 3.0 OS for the iPod Touch, not the iPhone. iPhone-specific features are not reviewed in this post.

Well the first thing you are going to notice is the price – £5.99 in the UK and £9.95 in the US. Personally I don’t think that is too bad, but I’m a little annoyed that iPod Touch users have to pay at all. Never mind, I’m not going to make a fuss of it.

Once you’ve paid the price, you then need to accept the terms and start the download. It’s thereabouts 240 megabytes and on a good broadband connection will take about 15 minutes to download. Once you’ve downloaded it, iTunes will proceed with an install.

The install is fairly simple. iTunes will back up your current iPod’s settings and then install the firmware. The process takes about 20-25 minutes depending on how much data is currently being stored on your iPod.

Providing everything went through smoothly, you’ll be able to use your iPod as soon as the update is complete. You can unlock your iPod and it will be ready to use.

Here’s a quick run through of the main new features in OS 3.0:

• Spotlight search means you can search your entire iPod for data – whether it is music, videos, notes, photos, or emails. You can find it on the very left tab in the home screen.
• New search bars in music, video, email and notes. Get it to it by scrolling up to the very top of the screen in each section.
• Bluetooth music streaming means you can stream to bluetooth audio devices.
• Upgraded onboard iTunes store means you can buy and rent movies directly on the iPod. You can also download TV shows directly from the iPod.
• Upgraded Youtube browser means you can now sign in to your Youtube account. You can now browse your uploads and subscriptions, as well as rate and comment on videos.
• The iPod Touch now supports Shake and Shuffle. This means you can shake the iPod Touch and it will shuffle the track.
• Voice Memos is now on the iPod Touch, which is basically a dictaphone for the iPod Touch. You will need a microphone supported by the iPod Touch for this to work.
• Restrictions can now be put in place as to which applications can be used.
• Safari has been upgraded under the hood, so the web support is now better.
• There have also been some bug fixes and minor software improvements.

That’s a basic round up of what’s in the update. In my opinion it is well worth the £5.99, so go ahead and get it if you have the cash to spare.

Thanks Apple, a good update there.

Continue reading »]]> It’s June 17th today, and today’s the day of the live OS 3.0 launch! At last!

Yes, you can now download the update for both the iPod Touch and the iPhone. Bare in mind it’s free for the iPhone but you’ll get charged for the iPod Touch update.

To get the update, hook your iPod Touch/iPhone up to your computer, run iTunes, and then click ‘Check for updates’ on your devices’ front page.

Enjoy the new firmware update, and GEEK! will be posting a review shortly.

THE UPDATE FOR IPOD TOUCH COSTS £5.99

Continue reading »]]> Its only 3 days to go until the 3.0 software for the iPod Touch (and iPhone, although that’s free) finally launches. It’s been a long wait, with a total of five betas and a GM, but Apple finally announced the launch date earlier this week.

However, it somewhat annoys me that Apple still haven’t confirmed the final price for the 3.0 update in the UK. Yeah, I know, the chances are that it will be something like £6.99, but I wish Apple would put me out of my misery and just tell me how much it’s going to burn in my pocket. I don’t want to have to pay for it anyway, but I’m going to because I want the new features.

Apple has confirmed that the update will cost $9.95 in the US, but there has been absolutely no news whatsoever as to what is happening about the UK price.

Come on Apple, get your act together. I know the chances are that nobody gives a damn what it is going to cost, but I there are a few of us that do.

Continue reading »]]> Yes, it’s official. The new firmware, OS 3.0, will be available for the iPhone and iPod Touch from June 17th.

As predicted, iPod Touch users will have to pay for the privilege ($9.95 to be precise, UK price unknown at time of writing). iPhone users will get it free.

Hot picks for OS 3.0 are:

• You can download and rent movies direct from the iPhone/iPod
• Upgraded Safari browser for better browsing and faster Javascript. There is also better Quicktime support of HTTP streams.

I don’t think the OS 3.0 will be anything massive, but it will definately be worth the update. I shall be purchasing the update when it is launched.

Wikipedia actually has quite a good entry on what’s to come in OS 3.0, with lots of detail if that’s the kind of thing you’re interested in. Here is the link – just scroll to the 3.0 section in turquoise.

Continue reading »]]> Now I am the proud owner of my iPod Touch, I try to keep up with the news to do with it. And the biggest thing that springs into mind at the moment is the upcoming 3.0 update for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The only thing that does annoy me a little is the fact that iPhone users will get the update absolutely free and us iPod Touch users will have to pay about 10$ (about £6.60 at time of writing) for it.

Now I know that there are some cool updates in it (bluetooth being enabled as a feature being just one of them) but compared to other popular mobile devices, Apple are just trying to drain us of our cash.

For example,  the PSP is a similar mobile device (not physically, but in terms of hardware) – and it’s cheaper to purchase plus all those updates Sony have provided in the past haven’t cost a penny.

There are ways to get round paying for the iPod update, but I don’t really want to go breaking the law and certainly don’t want to encourage it.

I think no matter whether they make us pay for it or not I will go and get it, mainly because it’s too much to miss out on, but it does seem like Apple just want to drain that little bit more out of us. Especially in these credit crunch times, most people are trying to save the pennies and not go pouring them into Steve Job’s pocket for a small update.

So yes – small rant there – but come on Apple, I can think of countless companies that don’t charge for updates to mobile devices and I don’t think it’s 100% fair.