Well, for those lucky enough to own a Sony PlayStation3 AND a Mac, here are some good news.
Sony has just released a firmware update 1.8 for the PS3, and, amongst other things, it adds the possibility to access from your PS3 to any DLNA-enabled device (like media-server boxes, media-NAS and such).
Well, turns out that even if Apple is not mentioned on the (
DLNA website), there are a couple of software solutions that run on OSX and that allow you to access your Mac's media from your PS3.
I tried a couple software, namely:
1) Allegrosoft's
Allegro Media Server, which works only for music, and takes aaaaaaages to launch the first time, since it scans your whole music library, which, on my 130GB+ music collection, maxed out the core2duo CPU on my MacBook for about 15'.
2) TwonkyVision's
TwonkyMedia, which works pretty well, although it is not as polished as, say, SlimServer (which sadly is not recognized by the PS3).
The best solution so far seems to be TwonkyMedia, since it allows you to browse all your music, pictures and videos on your PS3. You can even copy media off the Mac to the PS3 HD.
I'd be quite happy to hear about what alternative software you can find, so let us know in the comments if you have another solution.
On a final note, I wish Apple and/or Sony would find a way to make the PS3 able to just browse the iTunes/iPhoto libraries using Bonjour.
For a long time, Apple has been considered as a reference for computers to be used by impaired people. Transition to OSX marked a strong pause in this era, as most applications developed to help impaired users were not or marginally ported to the new OS.
Some impaired users can simply not perform some movement or task we are all carrying out everyday with our computer without even thinking about. Below is a report sent by Claude and illustrating how a really small thing can become a major issue:
While being impaired with reduced mobility capacity, I am a Mac fan and the happy owner of a PMG5 Dual 1.8 GHz from 2003. I was considering changing my computer to a new model, and I was thinking about a Mac Pro or an iMac core 2 Duo. The iMac would be perfect with its all-in-one design, as the Mac Pro while taking more space underneath my office is also costing much more.
However, the iMac would be a major problem for me. Its power button is localized behind the screen, and not on the front panel as with the Mac Pro; and for an mobility impaired user this is a major issue. I can not move my hands behind to switch the computer one, or force a reboot when the computer crash (rare). This might become an even major problem when living alone.
So, I am simply asking the Mac community to think about a solution which would allow physically impaired people to use their computer as anybody else. It does not require Apple to redesign the power button on the front panel (even though it would be the easiest way), but by proposing a trick to boot/reboot the computer without requiring such difficult movement for some users. We could maybe even think of using the Apple remote control for performing such task.
In France as in Europe, about 10% of the population is considered impaired (different grade) and they all use computers (Mac and PC), and maybe even more than most people as it is often a device needed to improve their life on a daily basis. With such report I would like to initiate a discussion/brain storming about solutions for the Mac to improve its use by impaired consumers. This would imply thinking about both hardware and software design and development.
If you feel to contribute to this action, please post your message or comments in the
dedicated topic on our forum. We will try to push any positive initiative, and we expect that software and hardware designer in Cupertino or elsewhere are readying those lines.
What would you think if Apple would replace the current Radeon XT1600 XT Mobility in MacBook Pro by the Radeon X2300 Mobility? Based on the branding most users would think Apple is moving ahead, upgrading the mobile GPU to recent model featuring higher performance level. Well, no. The Radeon X2300 Mobility is in fact a re-branded Radeon X1700 featuring a minor increased of its clock speed.
So, AMD/ATI tries to use the introduction of new graphic cards HD2xxx based on its new GPU to recycle previous generation GPU installed on a re-branded model. If this could be consider as a marketing trick it should at least be explained or clearly stated to consumers.
Due to the Vista-driven overproduction of RAM modules, the price of DDR2 memory has reached record low level. To curve this tendency, some DRAM manufacturers have started reducing production of modules to reduce stocks and stabilize prices. If prices would keep decreasing by 10-15%, makers would start loosing money and could simply stop production lines.
The effect of the price is not expected before the third quarter, so it might be a good timing for buying its RAM modules during the summer.
