The iPhone, the ultimate smartphone. The phone that revolutionised the category. I’ve owned each and every model since the initial release in 2007. Four years and five models later, iOS has flourished into the most recognisable mobile operating system in the world. But guess what, I’m bored of it.

Each year Apple has added hundreds of new features that makes the iPhone arguable the most feature rich phone on the planet. Thousands upon thousands of apps, notifications, the new iCloud, a fantastic camera, it seemingly has it all. Right in front of you though, it’s essentially a four year old operating system. It’s kept the same look and feel that was introduced back in 2007. It does everything so well, so cleanly, it’s become stagnant, complacent in my mind. I find myself opening the same few apps each day, checking the same things, looking at the same screens. This is in no way a bad thing to some, it’s a phone you can rely on to deliver in almost all aspects (battery life excluded). What I wanted though, was something fresh, something to work with, something different. I’d looked at Android phones, but to me they’re an alter-ego to the iPhone, the Dark Sonic to iOS’s squeaky clean image.

When Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) landed, I took note, it looked different, like a new challenge. The main problem was hardware, nothing noteworthy available. Then along came Nokia, and after their deal with Microsoft, the Lumia 800 was born from the ashes of the N9. It looked like a nice handset, built quality was great, the specs were up there with the best. Why not give it a go? Well I did.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be using my blog to post a diary of my usage, how life with Windows Phone compares to the Apple iPhone. Stay tuned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6NHX8xdOJo

The reasoning behind this oddity is the fact Apple started using the built in temperature sensor (that most hard drives contain) to monitor and adjust the fan speed accordingly. Now you may think, ok so if I replace the drive with the same make and model Apple used at the time then all will be ok? Wrong. I found out the hard way by buying an exact replica of the 2TB Seagate ST32000542AS drive Apple shipped as an upgrade option back in 2009. After installing this I still got the noisy fan syndrome, and this was because unless the drive is flashed with Apple’s custom firmware then the pins used for the temp sensor cable are infact pumping out hard drive rpm signals.

Is there any way around this? There must be something we can do!!? Well yes, there is. It’s a simple mod that will get your capacities up without that dreaded fan following suit.

1. I will assume you already know how to get into your iMac. You need a couple of suction cups to remove the glass panel without cracking it. The panel is held on by magnets around the perimeter of the machine. For a detailed guide in opening her up, then check this. NOTE: Unplug the power cord!

2. Once inside and the screen is removed (careful with the screen cables, especially the one in the top left!!) you will have access to everything and the hard drive is slap bang in the middle.

3. Here’s the clever part. We need to replace the current temp sensor cable going to the hard drive with an external temp sensor. Now there’s another drive in your iMac that is constantly getting monitored, and that’s your Optical drive. That uses an external temp sensor with the exact same plug on the end as the hard drive cable. Put two and two together and you realise we can buy a spare Optical drive sensor and stick it on the hard drive. Bingo.

4. The part number you need is 922-9229, I got mine from TheBookYard here in the UK. Google the part number and you should find a supplier in your locale. Check the picture above to see where I installed mine. It’s been working flawlessly for about a month now.

If you have any questions then use the contact page to get in touch.

First of all you need to get hold of few files taken from Snow Leopard. Incase you’ve already upgraded to Lion, you can use this simple package installer to install all the necessary files – Download [Thanks to mac-hatter for creating the file]

Once that’s all done, restart your Mac and your Apple Remote should then be capable of launching Frontrow once again. Go ahead and run it, you’ll notice a problem, your iTunes Library is not visible under any of the menus. This is because Apple has stopped iTunes 10.4 and onwards talking to Frontrow. So what can you do now? Well the best workaround I found was to create an alias within your Movies folder.

1. Navigate to your Home folder > Music > iTunes, and create an alias to the ‘iTunes Media’ folder.

2. Drag and drop this newly created shortcut into your Home > Movies folder.

3. Launch Frontrow and go Movies > Movies Folder. You’ll notice your iTunes Media alias in the list. You should now have a list of all your iTunes content.

While not 100% effective, this is the best solution offered at the moment and I am sure to be using this until I can find a reliable and simple alternative.

I’m not giving up hope just yet though. My next plan is to order a temp sensor used for the optical drive. In theory this can be swapped out for Apple’s own solution and your iMac will be back monitoring to its hearts content.

Buying this tape (3M 9703) is very expensive, and you in no way need a whole roll of it. I searched on eBay and have found one seller in the UK selling 20cm strips. That seller just so happens to be me! GO GET YOU SOME TAPE

Once you’re sorted for tape there are numerous videos on YouTube describing the fix, but I found this one probably the most in depth. While it doesn’t have any instructions on opening the case, it does explicitly describe the taping process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E49tvZ8G3VA

The intricacy of this fix mustn’t be under estimated, you must take your time and prepare the surfaces thoroughly before applying the new tape.

The outer sleeve is made from OBD ’oxo-biodegradable’ plastic and sports this fantastic message;

This plastic film is ‘oxo-biodegradable’ or OBD plastic. This is plastic to which has been added very small amounts of metal salts. These catalyze the natural degradation process to speed it up, so that the OBD plastic will degrade to produce water, carbon dioxide and biomass. However, despite the carefully chosen short-lifespan nature of this packaging, it is hoped that it will be retained rather than discarded, as with care this material will outlive the owner.

I was wondering how long this sleeve would last, and after reading that statement, I have a fair idea! I would really like to test out the vinyl inside though….

]]> http://www.digitalintrovert.com/2011/04/25/the-san-francisco-toothpick-sculpture-35-years-in-the-making/feed/ 0 http://www.digitalintrovert.com/2011/04/25/%e2%80%9cthe-cloud%e2%80%9d-it-bringer-wet-weather/ http://www.digitalintrovert.com/2011/04/25/%e2%80%9cthe-cloud%e2%80%9d-it-bringer-wet-weather/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:59:13 +0000 Tom http://www.digitalintrovert.com/?p=1561 The Cloud is a host for all web-based software and applications. It allows individuals and groups working on a project to contribute to, save and store documents online, rather than on one or multiple computer hard drives. Did you ever have a locker at school that you could store stuff in, taking what you needed, when you needed it? It’s the same principle.

Imagine you are a small business owner hiring new staff during a recession. An odd decision perhaps, but you believe that by increasing output, you might have a chance of pulling your company out of the mire. Thing is, you don’t want to spend a lot of money on new software licences, which have to be added to every new machine that’s given to every new hire; it’s costly. So, what do you do? Take everything off your machines and put into The Cloud.

This is a vision that can apply to multi-national corporations as much as it applies to the savvy small business owner trying to get ahead in hard times. The point is it makes computing both robust – you’re relying on browser speed, not network speed – and flexible – employees aren’t weighed down dealing with a slow machine after a slow commute.

Let’s take another step. If a group of people are working on a particular project, giving them access to the network allows collaborative working from remote locations. Some employees can work from home, while others can work in their favourite coffee shops; then everyone comes together only when necessary.

When working from mobile broadband, the work you are doing no longer determines the device on which you work. iPhones and Microsoft Word don’t sound like the most cosy pair, but with a free app from Citrix, you can run Word documents on your iPhone. In that situation, you don’t even need to be worrying about elbow room in your local Starbucks.

The speed of mobile broadband can be an obstacle, especially when projects and documents are reaching those critical moments of pre-delivery completion. Pay as you go (PAYG) dongles face the worst of this with connection speeds of up to 3.4MEG per second. Note that you rarely get the full 3.4MEG. At best you may get half that, which is fine for running a single application on a lightweight browser like Google Chrome or Opera. If you choose to run the Cloud app alongside Facebook and Youtube, you might face some speed issues, which is frustrating.

Network security is a huge issue within Cloud Computing. The essence of the Cloud is making collaboration easier. You may not want to store you bank details in Dropbox.

The 3G network doesn’t have 100% coverage across the country, so it’s likely you’ll face patchy connection in some areas. The national rail network is one place you’ll definitely experience this.

Coverage and connection speeds will undoubtedly improve in the future, making Cloud Computing as indispensible as the internet itself.

This post was contributed by Marie-Paule Graham who writes on behalf of Broadband Genie and Mobile Phone Genie, the independent comparison websites for broadband, mobile broadband and mobile phones.