Month: July 2015

In 2003, Apple revolutionized the digital music scene with iPod and iTunes. On June 30, 2015 Apple released its new streaming service – Apple Music which has directly locked horns with established streaming services such as Rhapsody, Pandora, Tidal and Spotify. Like all other Apple creations, this new digitized streaming service is all set to take your world by the storm. Here are a few things you should know about Apple Music.

What is Apple Music?
Apple Music is a subscription service available on- demand and it comes as a part of iOS 8.4 and is bundled with iTunes 12.2. It is offered free for a trial period of three months and after that subscription starts at $9.99 for a single user and $14.99 for a family pack of six users. It will be available for Android users and Apple TV within a few months.

Apple Music subscribers can unlock the extensive library of 30 million-songs by paying a fee of $10. When using the service for the first time, subscribers can see a bubble-like interface and they will be prompted to pick their favorite artists and genres.

How is Apple Music Different from the Spotify, Tidal and Every Other Music Subscription Service You Know?
Apple Music is empowered with three additional features that makes it stand apart from its competitors and they are –

•   Beats 1 – A radio service that brings worldwide broadcast of DJs based in London, Los Angeles and New York. It entertains the user through artist interviews, news on pop culture and curated selection of songs.

•   Connect – Is an artist based social media feature that allows fans to follow their favorite artists without stalking them! Artists can announce their upcoming performances, share snippets of their upcoming songs or special photos. There are also genre specific profiles available for you to select. Apple automatically allows you to follow artists when you add their songs to your library; however you can change the selection to suit your tastes.

•   Curated Lists – You will receive music recommendations from DJ’s regarding the type of music you should listen and hit songs of a particular artist you are following. This feature is available for you under “For You” section of the app.

Apart from the three above mentioned features, Apple Music allows subscribers to save their content for offline listening. Users cannot download these files on other devices or even use them for other video projects. The user access to such songs are only available until their subscription lasts.

Who You can Listen to at Apple Music?
You can listen to artists such as Taylor Swift, AC/DC, Siri and several other pop icons, but the Beatles or Prince (he pulled down his music from all streaming devices except Tidal) are unavailable.

Apart from iOS 8.4, Apple Music is currently supported on IOS 8.4 device, Windows , MAC PC and Apple Watch. If you want to enjoy Apple Music, you can lease your Apple, Windows and MAC PC from GEEX – Your Computer Leasing and Support Specialists in the UK.

In our last post, we discussed the benefits of the new MacBook Pro with OS X. Not only is it the most portable device, there is a lot more you can do with the Mac Book Pro than simply surf, type, and compute. Don’t believe us? Here are SEVEN neat tips and tricks to get the best out of your MacBook Pro.

1. For example did you know that you can control your Mac remotely with Google Hangouts, Skype or iCloud? Once your Mac is logged on to one of these platforms, it appears under shared in your sidebar. If you cannot see it, simply hover over Finders. Click Share Screen or Connect As to work on your Mac and copy files to and from your mac.

2. If your Mac has OS X 10.8 it can listen and talk to you! You can dictate stuff to your mac to type into word or other compatible editors. Proof reading works great when you can have your computer read back what you have written. You probably miss the gaming experience that Windows gives but have no fear. Your Mac can easily virtualize Windows for you to play all your favorite games without having to install and pay for Windows!

3. OS X on your Mac has a hoard of special characters, alphabets and much more to help you enhance your documents. The Edit menu of most Mac apps has a Special Characters option that serves up a whole range of characters. You can simply drag these into your document. Click on the cog to get even more characters than those that appear at first.

4. Mac provides the unique capability to video record your screen. You can use these recordings as demos or to indicate a problem that someone can help you solve. You can also control (slow down) the speed of animations and watch your clips carefully while you Ooh and Aah over it. Zoom in to observe a part of your clip closely.

5. Preview in Mac has the power to do a whole lot more than simply crop and tweak your images. You can annotate your pdfs, control scanning and customize which app loads with which device, sign documents, and of course crop and tweak your images better than you can with Windows.

6. Your Mac can empower your keyboard as no other OS can! You can create keyboard shortcuts for almost anything from Menu options to typing certain words or phrases. This feature is hidden in System Preferences > Keyboard > Application Shortcuts and you can configure it for specific apps.

7. If you are not new to Mac, you are probably accustomed to using the Command+Tab to switch between apps. Once you have highlighted an app by holding down the command key and hovering over it, pressing Q will quit the app, H will hide it, and the arrow keys will show you the app in Mission Control.

There are many more little tricks that you can use to customize you MacBook, so go ahead and explore! And if you want to lease one to play and work on, Geex can lease you the best MacBook for your business!

References:  Techradar.india   MyGeex

The new Apple MacBook is the thinnest ever laptop at 13.1mm at the thickest point. It is also light in weight and has a full-scale key board and Retina display. Sounds perfect! However, is this the right business choice for you? Let us find out.

There can be no two opinions about the portability of the new MacBook. The display was never as clear on MacBooks. However, the two features that have made the MacBook desirable are the keyboard and the trackpad. The keys are bigger by 17% as compared to earlier versions of the MacBook. Apple has overcome the problem of rocking when you touch the edge of a key, by developing butterfly keys. The battery life has been increased to 9 hours and the new MacBook is available in Grey, Silver, or Gold colors.

The new MacBook comes with only one port – a USB-C port that replaces the Megasafe connection on the older USB ports. This single port is used to charge the device and connect another device so obviously you can only do one or the other. This sets it back from the earlier iPad Air 2 and the MacBook Pro. The device has an adaptor that supports Display, HDMI, and VGA. Though, it does not support Thunderbolt, two processor speeds are available 1.1GHz or ½ GHz, which makes the new MacBook a powerful device.

The biggest competitor for the new MacBook is the iPad Air 2. Both devices are ultra-light and highly portable. Your choice therefore would depend on your need. If your main concern is portability while staying connected, then the new MacBook Air is the device for you. If on the other hand, your business requires heavy use of media and graphics on the go then the 13/15” MacBook Pro would be a better choice. For those working on administrative tasks such as office, the MacBook is recommended. The iPad Air 2 is cheaper and more portable. However, it is only suitable for occasional surfing and responding to emails. You may consider giving both the iPad Air 2 and the new MacBook a try before you decide.

Says Gareth Beavis of TechRadar, the new MacBook is mostly about style, but backed by power. It gives new meaning to “notebook” and is oh so light!

Portability. Style. Reliability. Long-lasting battery life. Sensitive keyboard. Do you need more reasons to go for the new MacBook?

References: Apple,  Tech Radar