Jimmy is temporarily leaving us for Sweden.

We wish Jimmy a lovely holiday, as he jets off for some birthday celebrations.

Hopefully we see him return in one piece, all refreshed and ready to swing back into action.

 

 

 

 

Apple’s Airplay:

Apple’s AirPlay, (originally known as AirTunes when it was just for audio) was introduced in June 2004 and enables the wireless streaming of content between devices. An example of this is displaying media such as photos or videos from ones iPhone to an Apple TV connected to a Television or similar.

Apple additionally have Mirroring available for mid-2011 machines onwards running Mountain Lion and recent iOS devices (check below for compatibility). Mirroring enables you to mirror or springboard to an Apple TV or like device for demonstration purchases, spreadsheets, teaching material etc.

Apple certainly have put some focus to this area with some serious development to the Apple TV and the AirPlay protocol resulting in full resolution HD movie streaming and even video gaming being able to be streamed across devices.

 

The way it works:

The are two types of devices in the AirPlay scenario: those that send the content, and those that receive the content and display/ produce it on a display or speakers. These devices need to be on the same wireless network.

For iOS devices you need a device that runs iOS 4.2 or later (iPhone 3G and up, iPod 2nd gen up, and any iPad) and an app capable of using AirPlay (there are tonnes including Youtube and other video applications, Photo viewing and simply the Music facility on the iOS device).

For the receiver we’re obviously talking about the Apple TV but thankfully there are some interesting third-party solutions on the market also.

Third Party:

There are many third-party solutions to sending or receiving AirPlay content. Two of the more common sending applications available are AirParrot and Airfoil, and likewise, AirServer and Reflector for those that receive.

 

How to use:

Once you have the iDevice and Apple TV or third-party solution running on the same network it comes down to the individual apps implementation of AirPlay. Generally speaking when the iOS device detects the AirPlay receiver an option appears to then send the signal down this avenue within a capable app.

An example of this is the iPhone’s Photo viewer as seen below. When it detects an AirPlay receiver (as shown as a triangle pointing and protruding a larger square), simply click to have the image transferred this way

 

Airplay Mirroring:

Additionally, with the release of iOS5, we are able to mirror our iOS devices display much like the above scenario. AirPlay Mirroring is not restricted to just AirPlay apps but mirrors everything you do on the device including the Springboard, settings, etc. A fantastic tool indeed.

To use AirPlay Mirroring, you will need the following:

Small business concessions: changes to simpler depreciation rules apply from 2012-13.

With the end of financial year approaching, Stuart Conway from ARC Partners writes about Small Business depreciation for this financial year.

You could save tax by buying equipment before 30^th June.

From the 2012 – 13 income year changes have been made to the rules for claiming depreciation for “small businesses”.

These changes mean that significant tax savings could be obtained if depreciating assets are purchased BEFORE 30^th June 2013.

The amendments listed below only apply to you if you are a small business that has an aggregated turnover of less than $2 million. Your aggregated turnover includes the annual turnover of your small business and the annual turnovers of any connected or affiliated businesses.

 

 

Instant asset write-off

From the 2012-13 income year onwards, you can choose to use the capital allowance provisions in the Tax Act to immediately write-off (that is, claim a deduction for the full amount of) a depreciating asset that cost less than $6,500.

You can write the depreciating asset off at the end of the income year where you either:

• start to use it for a taxable purpose
• have it installed ready for use for a taxable purpose. 

Example: Claiming a deduction for an asset under the instant asset write-off threshold  

During the 2012-13 income year, Your Business buys a new computer from Mac Aid Pty Ltd for $3,000. As the computer is a depreciating asset and costs less than $6,500, Your Business can claim an immediate $3,000 deduction for the 2012-13 income year.

 

Accelerated deduction for motor vehicles

From the 2012-13 income year, you can choose to use the capital allowance provisions in the Tax Act to calculate the deduction for a motor vehicle costing $6,500 or more which you start to use, or have installed ready for use, for a taxable purpose. 

The cost of the motor vehicle is added to the general pool but unlike other assets, the deduction is $5,000 plus 15% of the remaining amount.

If the motor vehicle costs less than $6,500, it can be depreciated immediately, that is, the motor vehicle can be written off under the instant asset write-off rules

 

 

 

Want to know how these amendments will affect your business? Please do not hesitate to contact our friendly team at ARC Partners, Chartered Accountants.

Telephone: 03 9555 2221

Email: arcpartners@bigblue.net.au

 

Disclaimer: The advice provided in this article is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

 

If you would like to take advantage of these provisions and reduce this years tax, it’s important you get in touch with Mac Aid in time for delivery before the end of June.

Apple takes a comprehensive approach to environmental responsibility. Whether it’s from reporting their entire carbon footprint, to finding ways to reduce said footprint. Every year Apple reports on their progress so the public can see how they’re doing.

Apple started measuring and reporting their total carbon footprint of not only their facilities, but also their products, in 2009. In regards to the measuring of the products, it included manufacturing (materials used), transportation (domestic and international), product use and recycling.

 

Following heavy complaints from Greenpeace, and other such activist groups, Apple announced last year that all of their data centres would be powered by 100% renewable energy by 2013.

Apple is able to say that as of now, all of their data centres have achieved this goal, and now run on either solar, wind or geothermal energy rather than that of coal or fossil fuels. For all of Apple’s corporate facilities worldwide, they’re currently running at 75%, and is expecting that percentage to grow as the amount of renewable energy available increases.

 

for more info read here:

http://www.apple.com/au/environment/our-footprint/#top

http://www.apple.com/au/environment/renewable-energy/

as mentioned in the media here:

http://www.cultofmac.com/220665/apples-data-centers-now-running-on-100-renewable-energy/

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/03/apple-data-centers/

 

 

 

Are you finding that your computer is running far slower than usual? That the performance isn’t quite what you would like it to be?

It could be time to consider a Solid State (SSD) Harddrive and RAM (memory) upgrade.

It is the combination of both RAM and a speedy HDD that make for a quick and pleasant computing experience (not to mention the CPU but that’s not upgradable), and as such, either one can become a hinderance in computing performance.

These of course can be upgraded separately (and you’re most welcome to) but we have a special for May and June.

Read on for more info, or see the bottom for the special. If you are interested then call or email us and we can find something for you.

 

Hard Drives

Storage capacity aside, the next important factor to a hard drive is the read and write speed. This significantly influences the overall speed and feel of a computer and subsequently can result in night and day performances changes.

The hard drive stores the ever changing data (e.g. applications, documents etc) on your computer. They offer a large capacity and the ability to store your data with no power.

Traditional hard drives use spinning platters and turntable like arms bearing read/write heads and commonly available in 500GB through 1TB for 2.5″ (laptops) and 500GB through 3GB (desktops).

SSD’s use integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data and have no moving parts therefore lower access time, less latency, much quieter and less power draw, therefore a boost in battery time.

They offer read speeds around 500MB/s currently compared to 120MB/s for speedier spinning platter drives which results in speedier opening files, applications and booting. Typical performance increases are 2.4x quicker system boot time, 2.6x file open time, and 4.4x faster for a 4GB folder duplication.

 

SSDs are typically available in 120/128, 250256 and 500/512 GB capacities and are more expensive per Gigabyte but if it is performance you are after and can manage the compromise on capacity, then a SSD is the way to go.
Shoot us an email or call.

 

Random-access Memory (RAM)

RAM holds the program that the computer is executing, as well as any current data. It is like a person’s short-term memory, RAM is fleeting and requires power to do its job.

RAM is hidden away in most machines, but technicians can get there without issues.

 

In modern computers, RAM typically comes in 4, 8 or 16 gigabytes configurations. More is better of course, but it depends on your requirements. We would suggest that 8GB is the base level of RAM required today for a smooth experience. RAM also comes in different speed configurations: commonly 1333Mhz and 1600Mhz, but previously 667, 800 and 1066Mhz.

An upgrade means that you computer would be able to think about more tasks at once, and no doubt more stably and as mentioned above with HDD’s, can adversely affect your computing experience in a positive way.

If you’re interested in a RAM upgrade for your machine then get in touch so we can help. Fitting RAM for most machines is straight forward and fortunately RAM is more cost effective than ever at the moment.

Send us an Email or call.

 

 

 

The Offer:

If you purchase a SSD and have us install it (regular charges apply) then we’ll include a free external enclosure for your spare drive so you can use it as a back up if needed – we’ll set this up for free!

Email us (or call) with what size SSD you’re after so we can quote, and if agreed we can install said drive, clone data and get you up and running asap.

(As there are many SSD’s out there, we’re not building 1 or 2 versions of the SSD quotes, but rather will find the right drive for you. Pricing varies on the SSD’s also, but I’m we can find one for a reasonable price to suit. If you’re interested, Samsung and OCZ both make great drives at great prices, and are commonly available.)

If you’re interested then send us an email or call the office on 1800 762 040