“Apple has yet to reveal the reason it is pulling protective products from its shelves. A popular speculation is that Apple wants to promote the idea that its product’s screens are sturdy enough that they don’t need to be protected (even though anyone who’s ever dropped an iPhone knows this is far from the case),” Jacobsson reports. “That’s no explanation for why Apple is also banning antiglare, mirrored, and privacy film, unless they also hope to promote the idea that their screens are easy to read in the sun, can double as mirrors, and have magical privacy properties.”

Jacobsson reports, “Another speculation is that the products, while popular, are hard to apply and thus have a higher rate of return than other products.”

Apple’s “latest iPhone and iPod Touch screens are surprisingly resistant to, well, everything — from finger oil to water to barbecue sauce, and don’t scratch very easily. Even my iPhone 3G (without the [3GS's] ‘oleophobic’ screen) is pretty resistant to scratches… Macworld points out that it’s probably no coincidence that Apple is pulling screen protectors right before the introduction of the iPad — but why? Could Apple be thinking of debuting its very own line of (OLEOPHOBIC) screen protectors?”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

“The rumors are starting to trickle out on Apple blogs. AppleInsider says that Best Buy is expecting new Apple hardware in March,” Wagner reports. “New MacBook Pros will likely use Intel’s new mobile processors.”

“I’ll decide whether to buy a MacBook Pro when I see what Apple offers in its next generation,” Wagner reports. “I expect to buy an iPad when they become available next month. Maybe two; my wife is eyeing them hungrily. And I also expect Apple will come out with a new iPhone this summer, as they’ve done for the last three summers; and when they do, I’ll upgrade my iPhone too. So even if I don’t get a new MacBook Pro, Apple’s going to be getting a lot of my family’s money this year.”

Full article here.

Source: MacDailyNews

The reader is handy for transferring videos and photos from a camera, but you can also use the reader with an SD Card startup disk. This is helpful for when you need to troubleshoot the MacBook Pro.

Roman Loyola of Macworld provided a video on how to create a SD card startup disk for the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros. The video can be found in their Youtube channel: Macworld. Materials needed are SD card with a capacity of at least 8GB, and the OS installation disc that came with the laptop.

Download Macworld Video #114

• Format: MPEG-4/H.264
• Resolution: 480 x 272 (iPhone & iPod compatible)
• Size: 11.5 MB
• Length: 4 minutes, 3 seconds

Loyola’s Notes

“At its default settings, the Mac OS X installation for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro is over 11GB. You can reduce that size by opting not to install items such as printer drivers and language support. In my demonstration, I got the installation down to a little over 6GB. You’ll need an SD card that’s at least 8GB. (There are other ways to reduce the OS installation down, but I do not show them in the video.)

The SD card I used is the 16GB SanDisk Extreme III ($196). The 8GB version is $120. These cards are high-speed cards, which makes them more expensive than your typical SD card. But you can use a more affordable SD card.”

Source: Macworld