First thoughts on OS X Lion

Last week Apple released OS X Lion through the Mac App Store and apparently a million people downloaded it. It wouldn't be surprising actually because the price is so low it's a no brainer. An OS upgrade for just £20? That's cheap and it's probably to get as many people to upgrade as possible. Apple needs people to be running the latest version of OS X because it has key technologies like the Mac App Store, which doesn't work on Leopard or earlier versions of OS X. Will iCloud coming this autumn, only work on Lion or will it support Snow Leopard? Even if it does support Snow Leopard, it will work better with Lion.

Like many other people, I downloaded and installed Lion. My ageing MacBook isn't the ideal hardware and a newer model with a better trackpad is required for some features like the swipes, pinches and other gestures borrowed from iOS devices. However, I could always add a Magic Trackpad. At £59 it seems a bit overpriced for something that just enables me to swipe and pinch. Apart from this, Lion works fine on my 2007 MacBook with 2Gb RAM and 2.16Ghz Core 2 Duo processor. Ideally though, 4Gb of RAM is best and you'll be struggling to do some tasks with 2Gb RAM. Just running Chrome and iTunes uses up over 1Gb of memory.

There are some big changes in Lion, but also lots of little ones too. One change that MacBook owners will notice is that it automatically logs on to Wi-Fi hotspots. This is an idea borrowed from iOS devices and when you switch on the Wi-Fi on your iPhone and select a hotspot, it will connect and display the login page automatically. Now the MacBook does this and as soon as the desktop appears a window opens prompting me to login to the Starbucks Wi-Fi.

This would be useful if it remembered my username and password, but it appears not to. Previously I started Safari and by pressing one key it automatically entered my username and password - stored in my keychain. The auto-login feature does not, so I have to manually enter them. This makes the new feature less useful than it could be. What's worse is that the login window disappears and there's no way to log out either. Starbucks is free, but if you were using a Wi-Fi hotspot that charged by the hour then you would need to be able to log out to avoid usage charges when you're not actually using it. It's a bit like taking two steps forward, but slipping one step back.

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Anti virus for your iPhone and iPad

Intego, the security company specialising in Apple Mac security, has launched what must be the first anti virus app for iOS devices - the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. VirusBarrier iOS is available right now on the iTunes store (type VirusBarrier into the search box or try this link). Is it necessary? Is your iOS device in danger of being infected by a virus?

iOS devices are not in any danger right now because there aren't any iOS viruses and malware authors are not targeting it, although this may possibly change in the future. There simply aren't any viruses for the iPhone or iPad. So why would you want an anti virus app?

The reason is that you may receive emails and documents that contain malware like viruses, Trojans and spyware, and then unknowingly pass them on to someone else.

You can be a carrier who is not infected themselves, but passes on the malware and infects others.

If you receive email with attachments and access documents over the web, via Dropbox and other cloud storage services, you can scan them with VirusBassic iOS and make sure that they are safe before forwarding them to someone else, or even your own desktop or laptop computer.

It is a great idea and the app is cheap at £1.79, so there's no reason not to buy it. The price includes one year's subscription to virus definition updates.

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Prepare your Google profile

If you have a Google account, such as Mail, Blogger, Reader and so on, you can create a profile. This is basically an About Me page that contains information about you such as where you live, gender, job title, education and so on. In the past has been possible to create a profile, but to keep it private so that no-one could see it, but now apparently this will soon change. Any profile set to private will automatically be deleted and all profiles will be made public. There won't be a private option at all.

You don't have to have a profile and if you have one it can be deleted, but it can have its uses and you might want to reveal some information about you. For example, bloggers often have a profile because it's useful to know a bit about the person writing the blog. It's not the only reason for having a profile and it makes it easier for people to find you on the internet. Long lost friends, potential employers and so on.

If you choose to have a profile, and you can create one by logging into your Google account and selecting Edit Profile - try this link - then you need to remember that it is public. The profile editor prompts you to enter all sorts of information and it could potentially be used by someone gathering details about you for identity theft or other purposes. For example, it is possible to put your work and home telephone numbers in it, but do you really want the whole world to know them? It's probably a bad idea to do this.

Similarly, adding your email address might lead to increased junk messages in your inbox. Surely the last thing you want to do is to make your email address public? Unless, of course, you have a public email address. It's useful to have two email accounts, one you give to anyone that asks for it, and another that only your best friends, employer, bank and a few others know about.

Remember that your profile is public and only give out as much or as little information as you want. Go and check it now. See what will be made public. The minimum information is your name and gender, so it's possible to have a profile yet give little away. You can, of course, delete your profile too and then no-one will be able to see anything.

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iPhone 5 and iPad 3 for October launch?

Recently there have been reports that the iPhone 5 and the iPad 3 are to be launched in October. Apparently Apple's suppliers are gearing up for the new gadgets and you can read the details at Cnet, Digitimes and Apple Insider. Are they likely? Yes and no.

The speed of development of mobile phones is just as fast as it ever was and new models are being released all the time. They are getting better and better too. It has been over a year since the iPhone 4 was launched and while it still compares well against the competition it is unlikely to look so good as we progress into 2012. A new iPhone, even if it has only a few minor updates, is required before the end of this year. A lot of iPhone 4 owners are now ready for a new model and would willingly upgrade if they had the chance. A faster processor and higher resolution cameras are possible upgrades and there's the well-known aerial problem that plagues the iPhone 4. It hasn't damaged sales much, but a redesign to avoid the death grip issue would help.

So what about the iPad 3? I can't see that there would be any benefit in launching this for Apple. Sales of the iPad 2 are excellent and there is no need for a new version to boost flagging sales. They just aren't flagging. iPad 1 owners have an upgrade path and they can buy the iPad 2, which is significantly better. They don't need an iPad 3 to tempt them to upgrade. iPad 2 owners haven't had their device very long and may not have even paid off their credit card bill yet, so they would not want to upgrade to an iPad 3 so soon. An October launch of an iPad 3 would not do much for Apple's sales.

What might be good idea though is an iPad Mini - a 7in screen version. Steve Jobs once rubbished the idea and said it was too small, but I think a smaller and more portable iPad would be very popular. The iPad is great, but it isn't really that much more portable than a light laptop and I bet a lot of iPads have rarely left the home. Will we see an October launch of a 7in iPad Mini? Who knows, but it is certainly unlikely to be an iPad 3. I predict that we'll see an update to the iPad in spring 2012, a year after the current model was launched.

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