The Mac Admin's Blog

Some of iOS 7's features -- including hidden settings -- could be killing your phone's battery life. Here's how to make sure your iPhone makes it through the day. Thing is, it's not the standout features like AirDrop or the Notification Center -- it's the stealthy settings buried beneath a stack of menus. If you're noticing a quickly draining battery, or just want to get more juice out of your battery, make changes to these settings. Background app refreshing This welcomed feature finally lets background apps stay active while you multitask. The trouble is that by default  all  apps are set to refresh, uselessly stealing precious battery life. To fix that, go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Here, you can choose to disable the setting altogether, or just turn it off for the apps that don't need refreshing. Automatic updates A time-saver no doubt, iOS's automatic updates keep your apps up-to-date so you don't have to. According to...

The steps are simple…                                             …and you are done!

It’s Christmas in October. Lots of people are getting new iPhones, but the rest of us have plenty to celebrate, too, as Apple rolls out iOS 5, iCloud, Mac OS X 10.7.2 and, of course, iTunes 10.5 — the glue that sticks it all together. Fire up Software Update because the mothership has a freebie for you. iTunes 10.5 (download) brings a lot of good things — features we’ve all been wanting for years — to your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac: The New iPod touch from MacMall.com• iTunes in the Cloud: iTunes now stores music and TV purchases in iCloud, making them available anywhere, any time, at no additional cost     • Automatic Downloads: Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your Mac and iOS devices     • Download Previous Purchases: Download your past music, TV, app and book purchases again, at no additional cost     • Sync with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iOS 5    ...

If you ever notice that your iPad or iPhone calendar doesn't seem to be synchronizing correctly, or is just very slow, here's how you can fix it. First, this is caused by the technology used to connect you to our Exchange services, called Activesync. It also happens on other devices (Android, Windows Phone, etc). To fix the problem, you are simply going to turn Calendaring synchronizing off, then back on again. From your iPhone/iPad: Open the Settings app and tap on Mail, Calendar and Contacts Tap on you Exchange account Then tap on the On/Off toggle button for the Calendar When the pop-up message appears, tap on Delete (removes the old calendar data on your device) Then tap on the On/Off toggle button again to turn Calendar synchronization back on and receive a fresh copy from Exchange Then tap the Done button. You can now go back to work!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is an amazing game that gives you lots of stages to play. Smooth motion and high graphics is so tempting that you can't resist without playing. It costs $ 1.99 and its worth it. Total of 14 stages and each of it has different graphics and weapons to fight. It is recommended to play at high difficulty level. Chopper ride gives you a nice experience of fighting while you sit in a chopper. The second last stage 'Desert Chase' will be little hard to play, but I know at the end, like other games, you will surely make it. Only drawback about this game was that it was quite small and easy. It is recommended to play at medium or hard difficulty level. Battlefield VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL ...

It has now been 4 years when Apple Inc. had launched its most innovative and the most popular product in the year '07. The iPhone not only transformed the mobile industry, but has also given a few face to Apple. Before the launch of iPhone Apple and the details of Apple business was not so popular among masses specially in non European and Asian countries. If you have a look at Apple and its business in last four years, you can see that the market cap has increased three times. No one would have ever thought this can happen in next four years. In 2007, Apple was nearly 10 years into a fantastic business turnaround. Propelled by the early success of the iMac and pushed further into the black with the iBook, iPod, iTunes and the transition to Intel processors, the iPhone took Apple into an entirely different direction. Four years after the first iPhone was released, a lot has changed in the mobile space. Smartphone adoption has finally gone mainstream. The fortunes of Nokia, ...

This is one of the most beautiful experience I had in recent times. I used my iTouch to control my home machine while I was in office. I tried controlling PC and Mac, both gave me wonderful experience. I would like to add, it’s not just for iTouch but you can also use it on iPhone and iPad. The software I used was RDM+ lite, you can go for RDM+ full version spending less than $10. Lets have a look at the features: This was the screen capture I took when my nephew was watching The Bourne Ultimatum at home thinking no one was watching him. Have a look at the icons above – it’s the shortcut. You can go to other media items, logoff from here, get info, and if you click on the icon at extreme right, it will show you the keyboard shortcut and special commands. Mouse movement is amazing in this application, its smoother than you can even expect. If you don’t want this shortcut panel you can just drag it upwards and its gone. See the next image in which I have hidden the shortcut bar. Yo...

Today we are going to discuss the details of .pcf files and the way to configure it in iPhone or Mac. Once the configuration part is complete I will talk a little bit about how to decipher the .pcf file. You might be aware of the new option added in System Preferences under Network which is CISCO VPN. Yes, it means you don’t have to install the application if you need to connect to VPN. Indeed, Mac OS X is the most advance OS in today’s world – Oh we would discuss its greatness later on, lets talk about making the VPN work for you: On Mac OS X: Launch System Preferences Go to Network Now click on the plus ‘+’ sign (which is meant to create a new service) On the iPhone: Go to Settings Now go to General Under Network, select VPN   Now select Add VPN Configuration Enter the details in these fields from your .pcf file. To get the value that needs to be entered, you need to open your .pcf file which could be save on your machine. To know where the .p...

Once the CISCO VPN client is installed on the machine the profiles are automatically saved. In case you want to find where the VPN profiles are saved on Macintosh, you can peek at the following destination: /etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles/ /private/etc/opt/cisco-vpnclient/Profiles/ VPN can be configured on iPhones and Macs but you will be able to access the office network using VPN tunnel only when you have been provided sufficient privileges on your corporate Active Directory account. In order to get VPN access you may contact your IT Helpdesk . How to configure Cisco VPN on iPhone or Mac Understanding the .pcf files How to decipher .pcf files

The wireless Braille display stretches the iPhone 4 markets further more If  you are blind I guess you won’t be reading my blog for iPhone 4 Braille display. However, if you are not you should firstly be thankful for having the ability to use iPhone 4 and secondly should help iPhone blind users. According to an estimate 3% of the world’s population is blind. This makes around 200 million. If we segment it properly we can get around additional 6 million potential consumers who can use iPhone 4 Braille display to overcome their inability. Around the world we have many blind users’ appliances. The segment is niche but still can stretch iPhone deeper in the minds of the consumer. Recently it has been revealed that iPhone Braille display can be used by blinds to use iPhone with ease. There are various Braille available which can be connected to iPhone 4 via Wi-Fi and thus enabling blind users to access iPhone. Although the users cannot see, but they still can touch and fell the iP...

At last, Microsoft announced ActiveSync support for Hotmail on iPhone and iPad. This development will open new doors to easy access for iPhone and iPad users who access Hotmail and other similar web services. The MS Hotmail ActiveSync was previously supported by other Smart-platforms like windows mobile, windows phone 7, Nokia (E S, and N series), but now it will also be supported by iPhone and iPad. The Hotmail support for Microsoft’s exchange ActiveSync (EAS) will now be available to customers worldwide. This is a push synchronization support which on the iPhone and iPad would require just a tap to perform synchronization with your email, chats and other Hotmail services. iPhone and iPad users can use Microsoft Hotmail ActiveSync, which will enable them to get their mail, calendar and contacts on a tap-to-push automation using the exchange server. The support is quite robust and supports multiple MS windows versions. The ActiveSync works in a very similar fashion of any live ex...

Recently, a lot of media companies are paying heed to the Apple TV apps for iPhone and iPad. Apple has recently launched the iTV which is gradually penetrating into the mobile television market. It seems like Apple’s proclaimed mobile television market has become a lucrative option for media companies. This is the reason we see them pouring in their apps for iPhone and iPad . Various prominent media broadcasters have introduced their Smartphone apps. AT&T U-Verse is an IPTV based television service. They have made their app, which enables the user to download and view content from their iPhone and iPad. All U-Verse customers would be able to subscribe and can use the iPhone TV app to view the content. They would also be able to use the application for managing the DVR. This is currently available for paid app only. Some of the satellite TV providers like Disk Network also give its subscribers the ability to view content on the iPhone and iPad. They follow a different model of f...

iPhone topping the chart, followed by iPad and Mac subsequently No doubt, iPad has become today’s trend. In spite of many drawbacks and limitations of iPad, it continues to rock European countries. It has left sale of Macs far behind. People have started believing it as the best travel companion and they are replacing  their laptops while they are on the move. According to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky , Apple is currently floating about 200,000 iPads per week, where Macs being moved are just 110,000. However, both of those Apple products stay far behind iPhone, which is apparently racking up sales of 246,000 per week. Lets have a look at graphical presentation.   Analyzing the graph, the present looks good and no doubt, Apple has planned to make some major changes in iPad and enhance the features, which will ultimately increase the sale in near future.  One of the most demanding requirement by iPad uses are a USB hub and a hi-resolution webcam. ...

Great news for Apple lovers According to the report received from NetMarketshare, it indicates that iPad is soon going to make a solid place among all the countries within all user segments. The report says iPad grabbed 0.03 percent of total web traffic which is fairly high. If you take a glance at the competition you will find iPad’s performance is incredible. iPhone: 0.51% BlackBerry: 0.04% Android: 0.07% Windows mobiles: 0.07% The figure is really impressive, seems Steve’s idea might become a revolution in the web world in coming time. Good luck Steve!   Buzz  

One of the fact of life is we keep losing and getting things. If unfortunately you ever miss your iPhone somewhere you can lock it using your MobileMe account. This is one of the safest investment that you can make. Just to remind you about MobileMe , this is not just a security application, but it is perfect combination of office and personal tools. It has push Email, push contact, push calendar and inbuilt photo Gallery for iPhone and iPod touch. Also, it has many more features, visit Apple official website for more information. Lock your iPhone remotely Once you realize you haven’t simply misplaced your iPhone at home under a pile of laundry, you may want to protect its contents until your iPhone is safely back in your hands. Just sign in to your MobileMe account and remotely set a four-digit passcode lock to prevent people from using your iPhone, accessing your personal information, or tampering with your settings.

Working at helpdesk, very often I get tickets from users requesting to synch their Entourage data with their iPhone. Though the steps to synch iPod touch with Entourage is same, but I would prefer using the word iPhone considering its popularity. All you have to do is go to Entourage Preferences, under General Preferences, select ‘Synch Services’. If you have a MobileMe account, you don’t have to bother about connecting your iPhone to the Mac. In our next post we will discuss how Mac synchronizes the data with iPhone.

Apple Releases iPhone OS 3.1 (iPhone and iPod Touch) Apple announced the availability of iPhone OS 3.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch. The new firmware will be able to take advantage of the new Genius feature for apps to help users find new apps that may be of interest based on past purchases and will also allow wireless downloading of new pre-cut ringtones. Source: Macrumors The mail features of OS 3.1 and updates includes the following mentioned points and is also available on Apple website : Display available iTunes account credits in the App Store and iTunes Store Save video from Mail and MMS into Camera Roll Improved syncing for music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and photos iTunes U content organization Redeem iTunes Gift Cards, codes, and certificates in the App Store Remotely lock iPhone with a passcode via MobileMe Use Voice Control on iPhone 3GS with Bluetooth headsets Paste phone numbers into the keypad Option to use Home button to turn on accessibility features o...