With each new product announcement from Apple, users are faced with a choice between buying, selling, upgrading or just sticking with their existing computing solution. For the most part, the design of the new 2011 MacBook Pro is the same as it has been since 2008.  And while the recent announcement of the new MacBook Pros may have seem a little underwhelming at first, there are some other factors to consider.

Comparing the key differences of the top MacBook Pro 15-inch (with no modifications) over the previous four years, one can make a well-informed decision of whether or not there was any value added:

Looking back, the release of the 2011 MacBook Pros does appear to be the most significant annual update since the redesign was first introduced.  Don’t be so quick to discount the processor upgrade this time around, either.  Early results popping up on Primate Lab’s Geekbench are proving Apple’s claims at being twice as fast as last years model are true.  When compared to purchasing a used 2008 model online today, you’ll find that you can get twice the memory, three times the processing speed, Thunderbolt and an updated HD camera for only about $500 more.

Macs have historically retained their resale value really well compared to Windows PCs.  So I went online shopping for 15-inch MacBook Pros from late-2008, mid-2009, mid-2010 and 2011 at Apple’s Refurbished Store, Amazon and PowerMax.  For the most part, a 15-inch MacBook Pro used sells for about $1,500, and that includes the late 2008 model. Provided this used market holds up, you could, in theory, sell your current MacBook Pro and end up paying just $500 for a brand new machine. Anyone tempted to try it?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• Who Will Profit From Broadband Innovation?
• Why Apple Hasn’t Sewn Up the Tablet Market — Yet
• Rogue Devices: The Consumer Influence on Enterprise Mobility, Part 1

src='http://s3.amazonaws.com/ad-creative.gigaom/juniper-2011-02-24.png'
alt='The exponential data center is here: Juniper Networks'
border='0'
/>

View full post on GigaOMApple

If you’re planning on buying a new machine, it’s a great idea to sell your old Mac to cover some of the new computer’s cost. I’m currently going through the process of preparing my machine to replace it with a new MacBook Pro, so follow along with me as I make sure the process is as painless as possible for both me and my Mac’s next owner.

Back Up Your Content

What would you do if you sat down at your new computer one day and realized a desperately important file was still on your old hard drive? In order to prevent from happening, you should make a backup of at least your most important files. If you have an external hard drive, that makes it easy, but if you’re only copying text documents or small numbers of photos, even a USB flash drive might be enough. I’d suggest at least making copies of your Documents and Photos folders, since they’re the folders most likely to contain important files.

Or, if you’re not sure what you should keep, go whole hog and backup your entire hard drive. You can do this with a utility such as Carbon Copy Cloner, which copies a drive’s contents to another volume to keep them safe. It’s a good idea to make sure you have a large capacity external drive if you’re doing this: one that has more than enough room for your files.

Deactivate or Deauthorize Software

Some applications, such as iTunes and Adobe products, require each of your computers to be authorized to use them. Before you wipe your data, make sure to deactivate any applications that need activating so they can run on your new machine. With iTunes, you can deauthorize a computer by going to Store > Deauthorize Computer. Adobe’s applications can be deactivated by going to Help > Deactivate. Deauthorizing iTunes isn’t as important as it is with Adobe’s applications, since you can deauthorize after the fact through your iTunes account.

Destroy Everything

Once you’re certain you have a backup of everything you could possibly ever need again, you’re going to want to erase your entire hard drive to ensure there’s nothing personal left on there. To do this, you’ll want to find the OS X install disc that came with your machine. Insert the DVD into your drive, and restart the computer holding down the C key. Instead of loading OS X from your machine, the Installer will load from the disc. Once it does, choose Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. From there, you’ll be able to select your hard drive and erase it. In order to make sure there’s no way anyone could restore any of your personal data, I’d choose Security Options and select either Zero Out Data, or if you have more time and want to be extra sure there’s nothing left, 7-Pass Erase. Everything on the drive will be overwritten, so there’s a very small chance anything could be recovered.

Of course, if you don’t want to risk even using the security options, you could always spent a small amount of money on a new hard drive and destroy the old one completely. A large hammer will do the trick, and I’m not even joking. There’s no way anyone’s getting your data back from a hard drive that’s in pieces.

Reinstall OS X

While the OS X install disc is still in your machine, now is a good time to reinstall the operating system. Simply run the installer from the disc. When your Mac reboots, make sure you don’t start running the Setup Assistant. The new owner of your computer will be happier to set it up as if it were a brand new Mac than have to run from the setup you set up. Once the Setup Assistant appears, just hit Command-Q to quit and eject the disc. When the Mac is next turned on, the Assistant will run and the new user can set it up however he/she wants.

Give It a Cleaning

No one wants to open a box to find a grubby computer covered in fingerprints and old bits of food. So give your Mac a good cleaning using a soft, damp cloth (when it’s turned off, of course). If it’s a laptop you’re selling, you could also — carefully — turn it upside-down and shake out some of the crumbs in the keyboard and in the hinge. Use a different cloth to wipe away smears and fingerprints from the screen (a microfiber or glasses cloth works well).

Conclusion

Once you’ve done all of the above, your Mac is ready to be passed on to another user who will hopefully take good care of it. Did I miss any vital steps? Let me know in the comments.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• Motives and Possibilities for a Big Apple Acquisition
• Why Browsers Don’t Matter Anymore
• Why Humans are the Biggest Threat to Cloud Adoption

src='http://s3.amazonaws.com/ad-creative.gigaom/juniper-2011-02-24.png'
alt='The exponential data center is here: Juniper Networks'
border='0'
/>

View full post on GigaOMApple

The rising cost of food can have a dramatic impact on your next vacation. CNN's Felicia Taylor reports.

View full post on Business 360

Brooke Mueller was apparenty with Sheen in the Bahamas for a time. (AP)

Is Charlie Sheen ready to go off the deep end, or did that ship already sail?

One addiction specialist reached by FOX411 is even fearing for Sheen’s life after hearing the actor’s radio rant on Thursday in which he went after the producer of “Two and a Half Men,” Alcoholics Anonymous, and ex-wife Brooke Mueller.

“He’s holed up in the Bahamas with two porn stars, drinking and using drugs and thinking that he has everything under control. I just hope he doesn’t die,” Beverly Hills-based addiction expert Marty Brenner, who does not treat Sheen, tells FOX411. “It’s taken down bigger stars than him. There’s no way the body can last that long—your body has to give in. The body starts falling apart and deteriorating.”

After hearing Sheen’s rambling interview with radio host Alex Jones, Brenner believes that the ‘Two and a Half Men’ star is still using drugs and alcohol.

“In that audio tape, does Charlie sound coherent, lucid? No. If it were up to me, I would send him to a doctor to get a brain scan to see what’s going on, what parts have been affected, and what needs to be rebuilt,” Brenner said. “He sounds delusional. If you do that much cocaine, crack, drinking, pills, alcohol—and he’s done a combination of a lot of stuff—you lose your marbles. I’m being serious. That’s the only way I can really phrase it.”

Sheen denied he was drinking or on drugs, telling gossip site RadarOnline.com he’d come over to their offices and have his blood and urine tested.

Brenner believes that Sheen needs to be committed to a medical facility—if and when he returns from the Bahamas.

“No one has really helped Charlie. He’s never had a consistent length of time where anybody has worked with him and his underlying issues—his anger. I mean, he did rehab at home—and that doesn’t work. It’s self-sabotage,” Brenner said. “His issues need to be addressed by true professionals—a psychiatrist, a medical team, the whole nine yards. He should be put away on a 5150 hold.”

Sheen’s only hope may be his family.

“Look at Britney Spears—when her father took conservatorship, she got her act together,” explains Brenner. “No one has done that with Charlie. I hope his father intervenes and that he gets the help that he needs—otherwise, he may die.”

View full post on Entertainment

In the market for a large-display Android smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, solid specs and international CDMA support?  You just might have finally found the one with the HTC Merge, a newly-announced slider from the Taiwan-based manufacturer.

Teased in leaks and tips from various sources since late last year, the long-awaited device features global 3G roaming, making it an attractive proposition for many business users and other frequent travelers.  It comes with what appears like a well-spaced landscape QWERTY keyboard, too, which should up the enticement for those in a habit of typing out long messages on their handsets.

Details of the HTC Merge include a 3.8-inch capacitive touchscreen display (800 x 480 resolution), a 5.0 megapixel camera module (with 720p video capture),  aGPS, Wi-Fi and stereo Bluetooth.  While not stated in the press release, it should have a microSD card slot, as HTC has always done with their Android phones.

The device comes with Android 2.2 Froyo, along with the usual Google Mobile Suit and some bundled apps.   HTC Sense is layered over the native Android UI, of course.

Official release of the HTC Merge is slated in the Spring, with no pricing announced.  According to HTC, the handset will be available under multiple North American operators.

[via UnwiredView]

View full post on Latest Cell Phones, iPhone Apps, Android Apps, News & Reviews – Phone Blog

Don’t go jumping off the Android sailboat just yet, these are very early numbers, but the Samsung Galaxy S II has been priced by a couple of UK retailers and the category they’ve placed it in is the distinctly high end. Expansys is listing £630 ($1,020) for the Gingerbread-sporting unlocked handset, while Play.com has it at £600 ($971) and is promising a March 31st release date. Even if you’re zany enough to put the cash up for a pre-order today, do take note that Play was showing the cost at £650 (with £670 RRP) only yesterday, so pricing still seems to be fluctuating and finding its sweet spot. Whatever happens, with such a high starting point, we doubt the S II’s price will be its most attractive attribute at launch.

Samsung Galaxy S II gets very preliminary, expensive UK pricing originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GSM Arena, Phandroid  |  Play.com, Expansys  | Email this | Comments

View full post on Engadget

According to a great blog post by TapTapTap principal John Casasanta yesterday, advertising your iPhone or iPad application is useless. TapTapTap has created and published some of the App Store’s greatest successes, and it says at least one of those apps, Camera+, did it without spending any money on advertising. That begs the question, if you can’t sell apps by advertising them, then what does lead to sales?

First of all, let’s go over the main points of Casasanta’s very convincing argument. He comes out against advertising on the basis that:

1. Returns, if any, don’t come anywhere near justifying the investment.
2. Brands don’t matter for small companies; products do.
3. Ads are terrible for short-term profitability.
4. The App Store is a dramatically different place (busier, with more expensive ad options) compared to what it was when ads were an effective strategy.

In general, advertising is a model that’s found it hard to gain purchase in the contemporary digital marketplace, and that’s not becoming any less true in the growing mobile market. Om talked a bit about the shortcoming of advertising in digital media in his predictions for 2011, and those statements ring true with Casasanta’s point: your money, and your attention, is better focused elsewhere.

Other developers I spoke with echoed Casasanta’s thinking, too. Ken Seto, co-founder of Endloop studios, said this about his company’s advertising strategy:

src='http://s3.amazonaws.com/ad-creative.gigaom/juniper-2011-02-24.png'
alt='The exponential data center is here: Juniper Networks'
border='0'
/>

View full post on GigaOMApple

England are fired up after winning their first two Six Nations matches against Wales and Italy.

When you say you don’t like your opponent, just days before a potentially championship-deciding match, it’s going to create a stir. But I believe England’s rugby players couldn’t care less about Marc Lievremont’s provocative remarks.

Not only did the France coach express his dislike for England, he also claimed the other four teams in the Six Nations tournament felt the same way. According to Lievremont, his cross-channel neighbors are “insular.”

Speaking to England manager Martin Johnson, scrum-half Ben Youngs and try-scoring sensation Chris Ashton at a team bonding exercise last week, there was a very dispassionate response when I raised the subject of the French.

There were slight smiles at first. They mentioned the unpredictable nature of French rugby; how Les Bleus, at times, mix brilliance with ordinariness. But England’s boss and his players assessed France’s strengths and weaknesses no differently to any other side.

Although my interviews happened before Lievremont’s news conference, none of the comments from the England camp since then have been any different. Johnson and his men know there is history between the two countries but their attitude seems to be, why add to the hype when it’s a big-enough match as it is?

With the 2011 Rugby World Cup looming in the background, it’s a crucial period for both sides, but especially England. France, at least, have won trophies in recent seasons. They are the reigning Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winners.

In contrast, England won’t need reminding they haven’t won the competition since 2003. Johnson was still playing then, and captain of the team that went on to lift the World Cup that year. That was why his appointment as manager was greeted so enthusiastically in 2008.

For the first time since then, England are showing signs they could match the achievement of the side that Johnson led to glory in Australia eight years ago.

On the day CNN filmed the squad, there was a lot of friendly banter as England’s players drove Land Rovers around a test track. They were loudly ribbing each other, the way only good mates can. It was a fun day out more than an exercise because the team spirit is clearly very good already.

In that controversial media briefing, Lievremont also said France and England have nothing in common. When it comes to rugby performances, he may soon wish the opposite were true.

View full post on CNN World Sport

On the heels of the announcement that it’s grabbed 25 percent of the US e-reader market, Barnes & Noble has decided to give the world a heap of details on its Android developments. First up, we’ve got an updated Android app, and while it’s not exactly a drastic upgrade, version 2.5 has been refreshed with a new library grid view (apparently optimized for 7-inch tablets), a book download progress bar, and a wish list feature. Okay, so they’re rather minor updates, but our guess is that the Nook Honeycomb app that’s being promised for some time this spring will be far more exciting. Yep, it’s a lot of B&N Android, but while we’re on the topic, we’ve got to admit we’re wondering about the whereabouts of that Nook Color app store, which was announced back in November. Look not everyone has rooted there’s, okay? Alright, we’ve totally digressed — hit the gallery below for some screens of the new app or the source link to try it out on your own.

Barnes & Noble updates Nook Android app, promises a Honeycomb version this spring originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Android Market (Nook)  | Email this | Comments

View full post on Engadget

The North American version of Chevrolet Cruze is to get a diesel variant too. The sedan was launched in the regional market just a few months back and also has its global presence in over 60 countries across the globe featuring both the petrol and diesel options.

Currently, the North American market gets only the petrol version, GM says that the 2013 model will have a diesel twin side by side. The company would start proceedings on the new engine by next year itself.

The car will use the same 2.0-liter diesel engine, as in its global versions. Detroit is now witnessing test runs of the diesel Cruze.

Although the output figures of the new engine are not known, its siblings in the markets around the world using the same capacity engine produces around 147 hp and 235 feet-pounds of torque.

The Cruze CDX in Australia returns 34 miles to the gallon in combined city and highway driving using six speed automatic similar to the petrol version Cruze Eco which gives 30 mpg combined.

he 2012 Cruze will get a keyless-push button start as an option on mid range LT model and standard on high end LTZ.

View full post on Car Blog | Breaking Motoring News Daily