USB 3.0 Mac mini Models Ship

Although Apple appears to be stumbling and fumbling it's 21" and 27" iMac rollout (Shipping delays until November and December, respectively) -- at least the Apple Mac Mini with USB 3 ports is now shipping immediately and offers the opportunity for mini owners to step up to the SuperSpeed USB 3 future.

Apple Mac mini with 4 USB 3.0 Ports

Interestingly, the new USB 3 Mac mini retains the FireWire 800 port - even though Apple had discontinued it on the SuperSpeed MacBook and Retina Display MacBooks that shipped this summer and fall. So FireWire 800 keeps a bit of a toehold in relevance for at least this revision of Apple's most affordable desktop computer. With HDMI and ThunderBolt - DisplayPort as well, and a SDXC card slot inconveniently located at the rear, it certainly offers more interfaces and connectivity options than most will need.

Of course the Mac mini with USB 3.0 retains backward compatibility with legacy USB 2.0 and even USB 1.x Macintosh peripheral add-ons and gadgets to help preserve your existing investment while paving the way for faster and improved devices in the future.

Ten Best ThunderBolt Hard Drives For Mac

Review the top ten currently shipping ThunderBolt backup drives for Mac. Spinning platter and solid-state flash memory SSD ThunderBolt hard drive options starting below $200 for super-fast TimeMachine and OSX data file backups. Apple ThunderBolt external hard drives for any budget.
http://www.macgizmoguy.com/apple-gadgets-blog/files/shipping-thunderbolt-external-drives.html
Single and dual-drive RAID ThunderBolt interface external hard drives for modern Mac computers.

Mac Speech Recognition And Dictation Built In To OSX 10.8

Speech recognition on Apple Macintosh computers took a huge leap forward recently with the release of OS 10.8 Mountain Lion. A new feature called Dictation allows rather an easy and surprisingly accurate speech to text translation in nearly any Mac application.

After enabling Dictation in System Preferences, any OSX application or Mac web browser page which allows text input can let you say what you want to write instead of typing it. Merely tapping the function key twice turns on dictation mode. Say what you need to, then tap the function key again to stop recording. Unlike other speech recognition programs on the Mac platform, Apple Dictation performs its translation services at Apple Computer, transmitting your recorded speech data to their servers translation.Within seconds the results are sent back to your Macintosh. As such, in order to use dictation services you must have a live Internet connection.

You don't even have to train the software to recognize your particular voice patterns. All other dictation apps like Dragon Dictate Mac, MacSpeech, or IBM's Via-Voice require a training session or two to recognize your particular voice and speaking patterns. Apple Dictation seems to 'Just Work' the first time anyone uses it without having to train it first.

I'm having a lot of fun using Apple Dictation services to write documents, compost blog posts and do Mac internet marketing tasks using the amazing speech recognition software now built into OSX 10.8. 

Not all Mac's have a built-in mic. And even if it does, for an optimal Apple speech recognition experience, you may want to visit mac-microphones.com and explore some of the USB microphones and headsets for Mac which can help improve dictation accuracy and minimize interference from background noise.

MacGizmoGuy Local Directory Listings - Apple Gadgets

That Apple Gizmo, iOS Gadget, MacBook Accessories, Macintosh Peripherals and OSX Software guy - known locally as MacGizmoGuy - is in the process of relocating his www.maccgizmoguy.com HQ to sunny California and becoming part of the local scene.

Local Business Listing Sites

macgizmoguy.com at Yelp
macgizmoguy.com at CitySquares
macgizmoguy.com at SuperMedia
macgizmoguy.com at HotFrog
macgizmoguy.com at Manta
macgizmoguy.com at InsiderPages
macgizmoguy.com at ShowMeLocal
macgizmoguy.com at EZLocal
macgizmoguy.com at MagicYellow
macgizmoguy.com at MojoPages
macgizmoguy.com at eBusinessPages
macgizmoguy.com at BizWiki
macgizmoguy.com at BrownBook
macgizmoguy.com at MyLocalServices
macgizmoguy.com at GoMyLocal
macgizmoguy.com at California.BizHwy
macgizmoguy.com at Fyple
macgizmoguy.com at RateItAll
macgizmoguy.com at BizVotes
macgizmoguy.com at My HuckleBerry


As such, it seemed smart to Get Local with some of the above linked internet sites to help MacGizmoGuy make the transition go smoothly - and what better way than to make one's undeniable presence and Apple Macintosh expertise known at such a prestigious list of websites? Thanks to the power of the world wide web and Mac computer's running OSX - I was able to use my MacBook laptop to quickly log-in, register, and establish my brand through various citation sites - something you might consider if your a local business and want to help fortify your brand and exposure to the niche of customers you serve.

These highly respected web sites deliver a great deal in terms of Internet Authority with the major search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and others. They offer some of the highest quality SEO links that small biz operators rely on for customer awareness, visibility and traffic - to both their websites and the door of brick and mortar businesses.

It's important that you spend time at these sites refining, making additions, and completing full business profiles at each to offer your customers and interested parties full insight into what your biz or service is about - and what you can offer them.

Cheap USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt Drive With Combo Interface

Multi-interface external hard drives are a Mac owners are often the best long-term investment. Some may only use a single primary interface for their own use. However, when you need to share files with someone else or migrate your setup onto a new Mac, it can be handy to have the versatility of more than one drive interface to choose from.

Just released - and on the cutting edge of high-speed drive connectivity - Buffalo Technologies just began shipping a laptop size drive with two interfaces for today and the future. The miniStation USB3 and ThunderBolt drive. This compact external hard drive is not only the cheapest ThunderBolt backup drive option currently available - it's the first to also offer a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed port.

This combo interface storage solution is ideal for nearly any Apple MacBook, iMac or Mac mini owner with an eye towards the future. And it's also perfect for the latest models of both ThunderBolt and USB 3.0 enabled Apple MacBook systems Apple is now shipping.


COMBO Interface Laptop Drive

USB 3.0 + ThunderBolt Interface

With either 500GB or 1 Terabyte capacity for $250 or less, the miniStation is currently the cheapest ThunderBolt drive which also offers the benefit of USB 3.0 and backward compatible USB 2.0/1.1 connectivity. Of note: Both a USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt cable are included for a complete, ultra-fast OSX TimeMachine and data backup solution without having to buy a separate $50 ThunderBolt cable as many other drives require. And, the drive is formatted for Mac, ready to go out of the box.

SuperSpeed MacBook USB 3.0 Ports - Backward Compatible

Across the board revisions to Apple's MacBook line-up have been well received. The new USB 3.0 Air and Pro models are shipping in volume and listed as IN-STOCK and readily available. The bleeding-edge Retina Display model is still projected for shipping in August.

Was somewhat surprised during Phil Schiller's WWDC keynote segment when he introduced Apple's latest laptop models. He seemed to gloss over the real-world advantages and utter SIGNIFICANCE USB 3.0 is going to globally have to the computing marketplace in the decade ahead. We're talking BILLIONS of USB3 accessories computers, gadgets, and peripherals according to industry predictions.

He did note the new MacBook USB 3 ports are backward compatible with slower legacy USB 2.0 and 1.1 devices (which is simply part of the SuperSpeed USB 3 specification).  What was strange was how he sorta triedd to 'brag' that these Apple's 'Unified Muti-Speed' ports are somehow an INNOVATION because over in the Windows PC world, manufacturers have been building systems with separate USB 2 and USB 3 ports to bring SuperSpeed to market faster than Intel would.

The truth of the matter is, Intel and Apple had successfully STYMIED USB 3.0 adoption to a degree - in favor of getting ThunderBolt established first. So for YEARS -- manufacturers HAD to implement logic board designs with a completely SEPARATE USB 3.0 chip from, say, NEC or Texas Instruments. Apple could have shipped Mac's with USB 3.0 2+ years ago. But didn't.

With Intel's latest Ivy-Bridge chipset architecture, USB 3.0 capabilities are now rather implicitly included in the reference design. So by year's end expect ALL new models of shipping computers to have USB 3 ports as the de-facto standard.

At least hundreds if not thousands of USB 3.0 accessories are already available NOW to take advantage of the new MacBook USB 3.0 speed advantages - especially any number of USB 3 hard drives to take the pain out of TimeMachine backups or drive cloning. And the best part about USB3 gadgets? They're half or a third the price of their ThunderBolt counterparts.

USB3 MacBooks Now - Other Models Later

Go Apple! After inexcusable heel-dragging on USB 3.0 for Macs -- The new MacBook line with USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt finally shipping en masse. iMac and Mac mini desktops will get USB3 by summers end, I bet. With Apple laptop's selling 4 to 1 over desktop Macintosh systems, the MacBook USB 3.0 deployment alone will be enough to turn the tide towards a SuperSpeed USB3 future.

Social Media Marketing Tool for Mac Web Masters

An old favorite SEO tool on my Mac friendly link-building automation list  - Ping.fm - has recently morphed into Seesmic Ping for iOS or as a desktop OSX program.

Seesmic Ping currently offers automated posting to Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn and Tumblr for social media marketing. Sadly, it supports a far, far shorter list of blogs and real-time status sites than its predecessor Ping.fm used to support - but more services are likely to be added in future releases. It's just an excellent tool for Apple website owners to promote their latest web page or blog post in a few clicks.

Cheap ThunderBolt Drive For Mac Backup?

It's been a long, slow road to the ultra-fast fast lane of ThunderBolt drives and accessories. More than a year after it's introduction, we're only starting to see a decent range of ThunderBolt external hard drives, adapters and peripherals. Up to this point, most haven't been very affordable or targeted Professional markets - and not the average Apple user.

Seagate recently changed that with it's highly versatile Go-Flex drive series which has been on the market for some time. With an interchangeable interface, you could choose and swap between various USB2, USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, FireWire or eSATA adapters to connect to it's GoFlex laptop or desktop drives.

Now with the introduction of the laptop and full-size desktop ThunderBolt drive adapters, Seagate offers the cheapest backup drive solution for ThunderBolt port Macs out there: either the Seagate GoFlex GoFlex Desk Drive with Thunderbolt Adapter or the portable Seagate GoFlex Laptop Drive with Thunderbolt Adapter. Both of these are a BUNDLE meaning it includes the drive, TBolt adapter dock AND a ThunderBolt cable for a complete solution. Up to this point, the majority of ThunderBolt storage solutions require you to purchase a $49 cable from Apple separately.

At around $270 for the 1TB laptop drive, or $370 for the 3TB desktop model - these bundles currently offer some of the lowest price ThunderBolt storage solutions available - though still twice as much as other interfaces. It's getting better. With time these ThunderBolt external drive solutions will come down further in price and make them more affordable to the average Mac user.

The only drawback? Because these are using mechanical, spinning-platter drive mechanisms, you're not going to get the FULL speed benefits that ThunderBolt ports can potentiallya deliver. For that you'd need a Solid-State SSD ThunderBolt drive solution which I'll discuss in another post.

A New Generation Of MacBooks?

Apple's 2012 WWDC - World Wide Developers Conference is happening in June. Am keenly awaiting the WWDC Keynote Speech on Monday at 10am PST. Although the Developer's Conference is foremost about software, apps, iOS and OSX, there's usually new Apple hardware announcements to go with it.

Being a Mac Gizmo Guy -- desktop Macintosh and MacBook computer hardware and gadgets are my thing. Not so much iOS and Apple's handheld gizmos. Call me a dinosaur, maybe the whole world IS moving to hand-held and tablet mobile computing platforms. But until then, I'll stay focused on the laptop and desktop Apple users interests.

With the recent release of new Intel CPU's and Ivy-Bridge chipsets - My most pressing interest is on the next generation of Apple MacBook models. Will the MacBook Pro get whittled down to a more MacBook Air form factor? Will 2nd generation ThunderBolt chips be used? Will the built-in DVD SuperDrive finally become an external OPTIONAL add on? Will USB 3.0 on a Mac finally become a reality? Will iPods, iPhones and iPads start getting upgraded to USB 3.0 ports in the months ahead? Hmmm? Guess we'll find out soon enough...