Tag Archives: 2011

2011-2013 Mustang V6 Roush Exhaust Sound Clips & Review

August 31, 2012Hero Slider, Videos2011, 2012, 2013, 3.7, 3.7L, 5.0, 69060, after market, aftermarket, aggressive, american muscle, axle-back, axleback, borla, chambered, custom exhaust, deep, drone, exhaust, exhaust system, flowmaster, ford, ford mustang, glasspack, GT, gurgle, head turner, idle, legal, loud, magnaflow, muffler, mufflers, mustang, mustang gt, open chambered, Performance, racing, rev, review, ricer, Roush, sound, sound clip, straight through, street legal, test, tone, upgrade, v6, v6 mustang, V8David

The Roush axle-back exhaust system for the 3.7L 2011 Mustang V6 is in a class of it’s own. They’re some of the most affordable mufflers and add some of the most noticable differences than many other after-market axle-back exhausts. It’s agressive exhaust note makes the V6 Mustang sound what is was born to be, a true American muscle car.

The exhaust note dampened a bit after about 100 miles but it was so insignificant only the driver will notice. At idle it completely transforms the sound to that of a V8; nice and deep, loud, and bassy as well as below 2000 rpm. When the revs climb above 3000 rpm the Roushs absolutely scream and become a bit raspy while keeping a bit of a low tone in the background and then slightly deepen again around 6000 rpm. They’re quiet while coasting so one would without a doubt want to coast by any cops.

There is a significant amount of drone but definitely not the worst in the after-market exhaust market. The drone is obviously the worst at 2000 rpm and is managable around 1700 rpm. Overall it’s not really a big problem to hold a conversation with a passenger or while listening to the radio.

The mufflers and tips look great on the Stang. The large 4″ polished tips outshine the cheap stock tips on so many levels and the smaller mufflers (“cans”) are almost unoticable making for a much cleaner look. The entire look of the back end is improved because of these mufflers (or any other similar looking mufflers for that matter). Installation shouldn’t be too hard, it’s essentially loossening the stock mufflers and removing them from the hanging rubber brackets and then doing the reverse with the Roush axle-backs. However, if you can’t find a way to lift the car off the ground (or at least the rear wheels) you’ll have to take it into a shop to have them installed which can typically cost up to $100.

A major thing to note: the noise level (while obviously loud throughout the spectrum) is determined by how hard the throttle is punched. The harder the throttle goes down the louder (and higher pitched) the exhaust is. Overall these Roush axle-back exhausts are much, much louder than stock and it isn’t difficult to see why so many people end up returning them or reselling them because they think they are too loud and obnoxious. Lastly, absolutely coast by any cops. With these monsters on you’ll be attracting everyone’s attention while you accelerate only to make yourself a target… people aren’t lying when they say these things are a major head turner.

Loudness (volume): 4.5/5
Exhaust Note: 4.5/5
Fit & Finish: 5/5
Bang for your Buck: 5/5
Installation time: About 1 hour

Question:
Do you think you’ll be getting the Roush axle-backs? If not, why and which ones will you get instead?

Apple to Ship 21 Million iPhones Q1 2011 – CDMA

December 26, 2010Uncategorized2011, apple, cdma, ces, consumer electronic show, digitimes, estimate, First, foxconn, iPhone, iphone 4, ivan seidenberg, pegatron technology, q1, quater, ship, steve jobs, verizon, wcdmaDavid

Sources with Foxconn claim that Apple has raised it’s global shipment goal for the first quarter of next year from 19 million iPhones to 20-21 million.

The first-quarter shipment goal for WCDMA iPhones has been adjusted from 13 million units to 14-15 million units, the sources said. The shipment goal for CDMA iPhones, which will be launched in North America and Asia Pacific in the first quarter, is set at 5-6 million units, the sources added.

The sources also indicate that the estimated total iPhone sales in Q4 of 2010 are 15.5 million bringing the total iPhone sales of 2010 to 47 million.

Currently, Foxconn is the only maker of WCDMA iPhones, while Foxconn and Pegatron Technology have equally shared the production volume for the CDMA version, the sources noted.

Rumors are continuously emerging about a CDMA iPhone 4 being released early next year. While these sources claim that Verizon will not be the exclusive CDMA carrier of the iPhone internationally, they suggest nothing about them being the sole carrier in the U.S. which could lead to a significant dip in sales for Verizon’s U.S. CDMA competitor, Sprint.

To stay up-to-date all on the news at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (January 6-9), be sure to follow iEnlive as TechGeec.com will be partnering with them to bring our readers the best coverage possible.

Editor’s Opinion: Will Apple be launching this new version of the iPhone at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show? While many sources claim the CDMA iPhone will be launched early January, few suggest it will be at the CES which Apple will not be attending. However, Verizon’s CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, is scheduled for a keynote at the CES on January 6 where they are rumored to announce new phones. I’ve received numerous questions asking if the iPhone will be launched at the CES and my gut feeling is, unfortunately, no. Of course, being a Verizon customer and an iPhone admirer, I would love to see the CDMA iPhone launched by Seidenberg in a little more than a week but I don’t see it happening. With regards to the iPhone, Apple has been the only company to have conferences, not even AT&T has had one regarding the iPhone. So if this rumored CDMA iPhone will simply be a CDMA-compatible iPhone 4, I believe there’s a chance of it’s announcement at the CES 2011. On the other hand if it will be a whole new design, I have much doubt that it will be announced by Verizon. For those who want an easier-to-follow opinion, 30% chance not being announced at the CES 2011, 45% chance Apple will announce it sometime in Q1 2011, 25% chance we won’t be seeing a CDMA iPhone in 2011.

If, however, the CDMA iPhone will be launched, TechGeec.com will have complete coverage on it.

via DigiTimes

Confirmed: White iPhone 4 Coming Spring 2011

December 5, 2010Uncategorized2011, 4, apple, black, coming, confirm, iPhone, proof, soon, spring, steve jobs, summer, when, whiteDavid

Some new signs popping up in various Apple stores around the United States confirm that the white iPhone 4 will be available in Spring of 2011 as seen in the image above.

[9to5Mac]

Excel for Mac 2011 (Review)

November 1, 2010Uncategorized2011, better, excel, exl, impression, improve, mac, microsoft, new, office, review, worseDavid

Microsoft has released Office 2011 for the Mac, and we’ve already looked at the new versions of PowerPoint and Word in the suite. Now it’s Excel’s turn. How does the updated spreadsheet program compare to the dismal reputation of its predecessor?

Look and Feel

Excel 2011 brings in the ribbon interface. As I mentioned in my look at Word 2011, I actually like it. The Windows version of the ribbon I found to be much more panic-inducing because it pretty much gets rid of all the menu bars. Not so on OS X; you get to have your cake and eat it, too.

The ribbon actually takes up less overall room than its equivalent in Excel 2008. The screenshot below shows the Excel 2008 on the left, and Excel 2011 on the right. You can also minimize the ribbon by single-clicking on a tab header. If you don’t like it, you never even have to see the thing. It’s definitely nice to have the option, either way.

Show Me The Money: Getting Your Work Done

Overall, Excel 2011 feels much more responsive than 2008. For starters, I can now launch the app without being able to microwave popcorn before it fully loads. I did notice some sluggishness when it loaded the template chooser, but you can easily skip that screen. Speaking of templates, while I found the supplied Word templates weren’t that special, I was impressed with those supplied in Excel. There are a few (invoices and general finance) I can actually use, a first for Office.

One interesting new feature is Sparklines. Basically, Sparklines is a handy way to trend data. In the screenshot below, we’re tracking quarterly sales by region. The in-cell chart is a Sparkline showing the trending data. We can tell at a glance that the Boston region is doing quite well, while the manager of the Los Angeles region might want to shop his resume. You can set a Sparkline to be a line, bar, or win-loss chart. I can see using it to trend my freelance business.

Conditional formatting is much improved in 2011. Put simply, conditional formatting allows you to set rules to highlight cells that meet a given criteria. Keeping with the sales data, I can set up a condition to highlight any cell with a number less than 100.

There’s a couple of weird gotchas, though. When I opened the document review spreadsheet I mentioned earlier, I wanted it to show me documents that had been modified during a specific date range. While you can choose “dates occurring” from a pull-down, it’s a fairly narrow range. Instead, I had to set the cell data range in a separate pulldown. It’d be nice if there was an option to set that range right in the “dates occurring” section. Still, the older version of Excel was much more limited, so these improvements are welcome.

One cause for complaint in the new version of Excel is the lack of support for Snow Leopard services. In my Word article, I mentioned how happy I was that Word handled these well, but sadly, the same can’t be said for Excel 201. Highlighting a section of text and choosing Services just gives you a grayed-out “No services apply.” I believe this is due to the Carbon underpinnings of Excel, as it seems Services require the app to be programmed in Cocoa. Whatever the reason, it’s a shame it’s not in there.

Back to the Macro

Thankfully, Visual Basic macros are back. As I said, I’ve never been a big VB user, but the lack of them really messed up Windows compatibility. While I never created them, I’d get enough spreadsheets containing them to shake my fist in Redmond’s direction whenever I tried to open sheets in Excel 2008. It’s nice to see things are back to normal.

Closing the Books

I’m pretty happy with Excel 2011. The interface is cleaner, and I didn’t notice some of the slowdowns other reviewers have mentioned, but the largest sheet I opened was about 1000 lines. Sparklines, corny name aside, seems like a good, albeit situational feature. I’m happier with the improvements to conditional formatting. The big reason to upgrade, though, is the return of Visual Basic macros. It’s hard to praise that return too much, though, since it really feels like we’re paying a premium just to get an old feature back.

Word for Mac 2011 (Review)

November 1, 2010Uncategorized2011, better, doc, impression, improve, mac, microsoft, new, office, review, word, worseDavid

Word 2008 quickly fell out of favor with me. It was horribly slow, and struggled to keep up with itself. If Word 2011 did nothing more than feel faster I’d consider it money well spent. But Microsoft went beyond that with the new version, just as it did with PowerPoint.

New Features

The Office suite has been criticized for being bloated, but I’m reminded of the old adage “You can only please some of the people some of time.” Or, in software terms, “One person’s bloat is another person’s critical feature.”

Take the return of Visual Basic macros. Reviewers are praising its return from the mountaintops, but I’ve never used the feature and didn’t miss it. However, the addition of an equation editor while I’m the midst of my first algebra class in 20 years has me positively giddy.

An academic annoyance that’s not Microsoft’s fault is that EndNote, a popular citation management program, isn’t yet compatible with Word 2011. While Word does have its own citation manager, I’d rather see EndNote support, as it can connect to my university’s library and grab all the relevant information.

The Ribbon

The ribbon interface from the Windows version also makes its appearance in Word 2011, although there was a sort-of-proto-version in Word 2008. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth has occurred since the announcement, but after finally getting my hands on, I find it helpful. You can easily make it go away with one click, but I don’t recommend it; spending some time figuring it out will pay dividends in increased productivity later.

My biggest complaint with the ribbon is, oddly, that not everything is on it. Word 2011 has a nice full screen view — similar to Scrivener’s — but it can only be accessed via the View menu. While ribbon-haters may cheer this, it can slow learning down as you stop to check whether something is on the ribbon or not.

Toolbox and Services Integration

Also not fully migrated to the ribbon is the old Toolbox. In Word 2008, the Toolbox was where you’d do a lot of heavy lifting. It’s still there, and it’s where you edit styles and insert citations. While you can right-click on a style in the ribbon to modify it, I found the Windows way of doing things a little more user-friendly.

Snow Leopard’s improved Services seemed to catch Word 2008 by surprise. Selected text, for instance, didn’t a trigger a text-related Service. Fortunately, that is much improved, as Word 2011 sees text as, well, text. Native support for accessing your iPhoto library is also included. Previously, this required a custom Service to work.

General Usage

Ok, now that we’ve gotten what’s new, different, and the same out of the way, how is Word 2011 in actual usage? Pretty darn good. Word 2008 was so bad an experience for me, I’d switched to Pages. It was faster and more stable, and I don’t collaborate enough with Office users for issues to really arise.

However, Pages is also a consumer-level product. My day gig is a technical writer for a large corporation, and there’s no way I can do that work in Pages. It’s just not equipped for heavy lifting. Another big benefit for work is that Word 2011 can now “paste and match formatting” right from the menu bar. Gone is the need for several mouse clicks to do a simple task.

The only crash I’ve encountered in my admittedly light testing was a hang up with sharing a document. By now, Word 2008 would’ve thrown several fits. I tend to agree with Gartner Analyst Mike Gartenberg, who tweeted “Totally love the new Office for Mac. Possibly best version of Office. Ever.” Given speed advantages alone, Word 2011 is going to be one of my go-to text wranglers. My general plain-text and creative writing will still be done in Scrivener, but all my school and business work will happily go to Word 2011.

A More Versatile Word

I’ve been very, very impressed with this version. I threw a couple of worst-case documents at it — custom templates with imported Visio documents created on the PC, and a user guide I created with a boatload of graphics — and it didn’t hiccup. If, like me, you thought Word 2008 was a blight upon the land, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with Word 2011. If you’re an academic user, with the built-in citation and equation management, Word is clearly the leader here. If you’re using Word for work, then the time saved thanks to speed boosts and fewer crashes will go even further toward justifying the cost.

PowerPoint for Mac 2011 (Review)

October 27, 2010Uncategorized2011, better, impression, improve, mac, microsoft, new, office, powerpoint, ppt, review, worseDavid

Let me start by saying that if you’ve given up on Office for Mac after the disappointment of 2008, you should have another look at the latest offering. I feel like the Mac department over at Microsoft is finally getting the support and resources it needs from corporate to give its products a fighting chance alongside Apple’s own offerings.

General impressions aside, here’s what you need to know about the new PowerPoint.

More Windows and More Mac, All at Once

Amazingly, Microsoft managed to make the new PowerPoint interface feel more like its Windows-based twin, while also changing the design so that it looks more at home on the Mac desktop. One of the features that helped the new design is the inclusion of the ribbon. Yes, it’s a controversial feature, and many Windows users don’t like it, but I’ve grown accustomed to using it, and I welcome its inclusion on the Mac side of things.

The ribbon, for those who haven’t tried any recent editions of Office for Windows, resides at the top of your interface underneath the tool bar. Commands and tools are organized by sections, like “Home,” “Theme,” “Charts,” “Slide Show,” etc. If you’re used to hunting around in menus for Office commands, you probably won’t like them, but for those new to the suite, it’s a much more logical means of organization.

Office 2011′s ribbon has all the same content as the Windows version, but it looks decidedly Mac, as you can see from the screenshots, so there’s no confusing what environment you’re working in. You can easily hide or show the ribbon, so it doesn’t get in the way of the presentation you’re working on. You can also customize it by rearranging tabs and changing commands, so there’s really no reason to dislike it unless you just prefer things not change.

Slide Layers Make Everything Easier

It’s hard for me to even convey how frustrating it is to manipulate the order of objects in past versions of PowerPoint, especially in presentations and slides where you’ve got a lot going on. I used to work at a company where we used PowerPoint as print publishing software, so that should give you some idea of how complicated layouts could get.

The new Reorder Objects tool in PowerPoint 2011 allows you to easily manipulate even the most complicated slides pretty easily. It looks like the new Windows 7 Flip 3D feature, fills your whole screen, and lets you click and drag layers to rearrange. No more hoping this is the last time you have to click “Send Backward.”

Media Manipulation

PowerPoint 2011 approaches the simplicity Keynote has in terms of adding media. You can use the Media Browser to drop photos, music and video in from various sources, including your iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie libraries. Even Aperture showed up in the source menu in my tests.

You can also edit stuff more easily — and with more options — from within the app. Doing basic retouching on photos is quite easy, and about on par with what you can do in iPhoto, only without having to leave the app. PowerPoint also has some other neat image editing functions, like the Remove Background tool I used to cut out Justin Long and John Hodgman in the screenshot below in about 30 seconds.

Better Cross-Platform Access and Collaboration

Working together with distributed teams is easier with the new PowerPoint, since you can collaborate wirelessly in real time, and communicate with each other via Live Messenger or Communicator. Plus, you can access and make changes to your presentations on the go with the PowerPoint web app. Finally, publishing your slide show to the web so that it’s viewable by others is a snap, and your audience doesn’t need to have the program to take part.

There are still some limitations to using PowerPoint 2011 on the Mac. You can’t access your presentations on the web from your iPhone’s or iPad’s browser, for example, and I still think presentations made in Keynote might look a little better, too.

Overall, that’s about all I have to say against PowerPoint 2011. Earlier today on Twitter I asked how many still used Office for Mac in some capacity, and was surprised to find that a lot of you still do. That Microsoft is delivering software at this level is great news for those users. If I was still in the business of regularly making presentations, this is definitely the tool I’d use to get the job done. In fact, it may just inspire me to include a slideshow the next time I give a talk.

Office for Mac 2011 Available Now

October 26, 2010Uncategorized2011, available, buy, excel, express, mac, macintosh, microsoft, new, office, outlook, powerpoint, release, review, wordDavid

Office 2011 for Mac, the latest version in Microsoft’s workhorse suite, is now available at your favorite retailer or Microsoft’s web site. In this version, Visual Basic macros are back, but Entourage is out. Entourage has been replaced with a brand new, all-Cocoa version of Outlook.

One warning, though: If your enterprise still uses Exchange 2003, you can only set up Outlook to access Exchange via IMAP. Also on the list of current gripes is the lack of calendar sync with MobileMe. Microsoft said it rewrote the entire Sync Services component from scratch, and that just didn’t make the launch window.

Even though 2011 incorporates the ribbon interface from the Windows version, Microsoft has tried to tailor the suite for the Mac, says Eric Wilfrid, general manager of Microsoft’s Office for Mac team. “From day one, we focused on making the user experience be both Mac-like and recognizably Office,” Wilfrid says. “Over many, many years, we’ve figured out different ways to make sure that the end product is something that we as Office and Mac users would want to sit down in front of every day and depend on to do our work.”

Word 2011′s Document Gallery:

There are quite a few things I’m looking forward to in Office 2011. PowerPoint has a new dynamic reordering feature making it easy to move items between layers — before the only way to handle this was using the awkward and dated “Send Backward” and “Bring Forward” commands; Visual Basic macros, eliminated in Office 2008, are back; Word now has a built-in equation editor; Finally, early reviews indicate the suite is much snappier, a welcome improvement over the often-lethargic Office 2008. I’m also hoping that the ribbon will work just like it does in Office 2010 for Windows and that the UI and UX both are as good as they are in Office 2010.

PowerPoint’s new “Dynamic Reorder” feature:

Prices:

Office 2011 is available in the following versions: Microsoft Office for Mac Home & Student 2011 (does not come with Outlook, $149.99); Microsoft Office for Mac Home & Business 2011 (includes Outlook, 279.99); and Office for Mac Academic 2011 (includes Outlook, $99.99). I’m especially happy about the last version. Getting the educational version of Office usually wasn’t available at launch. As a student, I’d have to wait until after launch to take advantage of the discount, but not any longer.

CDMA iPhone Will be Ready by Early 2011 [UPDATED]

October 6, 2010Uncategorized2011, 4, 5, apple, at&t, cdma, ces, generation, iPhone, ivan seidenberg, january, new, proof, qualcomm, steve jobs, verizon, wall street journalDavid

Please read entire post before reading this update.

When Verizon President and COO, Lowell McAdam, was asked to comment about the report from The Wall Street Journal, McAdam replied,

It’s one of those things that rolls out every few weeks whether there’s a basis for it or not. I can’t give you any insights, but I think Apple is the one that has to make that announcement. What I’ve always said is I expect at some point in time our business interests are going to align. I think things like LTE are another great reason why they’d want a device or tablet on that network. But I don’t have anything to say today about timing.

Despite the remarks, rumors of a CDMA iPhone arriving in early 2011 have persisted.

These rumors of a Verizon iPhone have been coming since it’s debut in 2007 but the “rumors” seem to have more and more “proof” behind them.

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal quoted “people briefed by Apple,” as saying the new iPhone,

would be similar in design to the iphone 4 currently sold by AT&T Inc.,

…but it would be using CDMA technology, the same technology both Verizon and Sprint use. They also stated that,

The phone, for which Qualcomm Inc. is providing a key chip, is expected to be released in the first quarter of next year, according to the same people.

Also on Wednesday, Shaw Wu, an analyst for Kaufman Bros., wrote:

in our checks with the industry and supply chain sources, we have picked up indication of development and progress on new form factor iPhones.

Representatives from Verizon, Qualcomm, and Apple all declined to comment on the issue, however, just a few weeks ago, Verizon CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, said no one should expect the iPhone on Verizon any time soon. The one and only reason why this statement would be a lie, is so that Apple’s fourth quarter earning do not drastically drop as people await the release of the new iPhone. This occurred when the iPhone 4 prototype was discovered. Consumers stopped buying the iPhone 3GS and instead waited for the iPhone 4 to be released which in turn drastically dropped Apple’s quarter earnings.

The Journal also stated that Apple,

plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smart phone early next year, said people briefed by Apple.

Apple is also developing a new iPhone model, said people briefed on the matter. One person familiar with the new iPhone plan said the fifth-generation iPhone will be a different form factor from those that are currently available. It was unclear how soon that version will be available to Verizon.

Another interesting note that many websites overlook, is that Verizon’s CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, is scheduled to give the main keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, 2011, which may very well be where the announcement for the Verizon iPhone occurs.

Verizon CEO: iPhone Not Coming Any Time Soon

September 23, 2010Uncategorized2011, 4, 4g, apple, ceo, ces, december, iPhone, january, seidenberg, steve jobs, verizon, wirelessDavid

Today, Verizon CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, announced that the iPhone will not be coming to Verizon until it’s 4G (fourth-generation) cellular network is 100% up and running.

Thursday, Seidenberg said he hopes Apple will offer the phone on the carrier’s 4G, or LTE network, which it is just starting to roll out later this year in a few dozen cities, and will not be completely ready until 2012, the same year Apple’s and AT&T’s exclusivity contract expires.

Seidneberg announced,

We don’t feel like we have an iPhone deficit. We would love to carry it when we get there, but we have to earn it.

I think 4G will accelerate the process, and any other decisions Apple makes would be fine with us. Hopefully, at some point Apple will get with the program.

However, as we posted September 22, analysts have claimed that Apple’s overseas manufacturers will begin building CDMA iPhones for Verizon Wireless this December. CDMA is the cellular technology both Verizon and Sprint currently use, while AT&T uses SIM cards. If these reports are true, it is said that Apple will have at leas 3 million CDMA iPhones by January 1, 2011.

Apple Planning to Produce CDMA iPhones in December

September 22, 2010Uncategorized2011, 4, apple, capable, cdma, december, fidacaro, iPhone, january, sprint, steve jobs, susquenhanna financial group, verizonDavid

According to Jeffery Fidacaro, an analysts with Susquehanna Financial Group, several people within Apple’s overseas factories and supply chain report that the company will begin assembling CDMA iPhones in December. We’ve previously heard rumors that a CDMA iPhone will be released in January of 2011. If Apple truly does plan on assembling it’s first batch of CDMA phones in December, it is said that they’ll have produced at least 3 million units by January 1.

Even though this may be exiting news for many people, it should be taken lightly. Earlier this year, before the iPad was announced, Fidacaro projected the device would include a 4200RPM spinning hard drive (which it doesn’t) as well as an Intel Atom mobile processor (again, which it doesn’t).