CreativeTech2012

Apple Mac and iPhone news for New Zealanders

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About this site — mac.nz is owned by Mark Webster, I am Mark Webster, an experienced writer and IT commentator with articles published over the years in Monitor, Stamp, Loose, Macguide, Tone, Maximum Rock ’n’ Roll, D-photo, NZ Classic Car, The Dominion Post, NetGuide, NZ Herald online and for PC World, and the author of the NZ history book Assembly: NZ Car Production 1921-1998 (Reed Books, 2002).

I am also a director of the CreativeTech conference.

I was the editor of NZ Macguide magazine for five years and I have worked exclusively with Macs for 22+ years. I have my own Apple-centric blog (mac-nz.com) and I write an Apple blog for the New Zealand Herald (Mac Planet). 

I am a speaker on Information Technology and automotive, historical and Apple subjects, and I work as a Mac trainer with wide experience. I have presented and trained at Natcoll, to MAINZ, for ImageText, to 3Media, MacMillan Publishing, Performing Arts School of the University of Auckland, to the Creative Technologies Faculty at AUT and for Microsoft, and to dozens of individuals and groups including SeniorNet.



Don't buy an iPad in Brazil; or NZ

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Don't buy an iPad in Brazil, or NZ — Apple’s iPad 2 may have the same performance in São Paulo as San Francisco, but Brazilians pay about 56 percent more for the same magical tablet.
After Cult of Mac discovered first hand just how pricey iPads are in Brazil – and why there’s a huge gray market there – they wanted to see if the iPad stood up to the 'McDonald’s Index': Cult of Mac’s Global iPad Index takes iPad 2 prices – the 32GB model, Wifi only – and compares them in Apple’s 37 online stores. And the good news? Not really – New Zealand is just fifth from the worst highest price! We're administered from Australia, and they're tenth ... (pic) 
[Yay, don't we just love Apple down here? Charge us what you like we'll pay anything.]

Microsoft Office on iPad — Cult of Mac wonders whether Office on iPad is needed [I say yes, as I get asked about it all the time, but I wouldn't.] As it looks like Microsoft will be bring Office to the iPad, something that’s been the subject of speculation for a while. Although a photo showing Office on the iPad has surfaced, there are a lot of big questions surrounding it. When will it ship? How much will it cost? Which features will Microsoft incorporate from the desktop version of Office? How will it compare to Office on Windows 8 or Windows on Arm (WOA) tablets?

Next iPhone September or October? Well, who knows. Apple broke its typical 12-month release pattern with the iPhone 4S, and it looks like the trend will continue in 2012.
New iPhones were always released in the summer until the Verizon iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S broke the pattern. There was no need to release the 4S during the summer months last year when the iPhone 4 was still flying off the shelves. Whether strong sales of the iPhone 4 delayed the 4S launch or not, the point is the same: Apple is no longer held to its once-predictable release schedule.