Intel and Apple's ThunderBolt interface had a rocky debut year in 2011. Although Apple managed to ship millions upon millions of ThunderBolt enabled MacBooks and desktop Macintosh systems through the year, products to plug into this new high-speed interface were in desperately short supply.

This year's Las Vega Consumer Electronics Show gave hope that A LOT more ThunderBolt accessories are on their way. CES 2012 had a diverse range of ThunderBolt product announcements from several high-profile companies that spell good things for the TBolt market in the year ahead.

Proof that ThunderBolt isn't just a market for Macintosh -- The Acer Aspire S5 Windows notebook was featured as one of the first PC laptops that will incorporate a built-in ThunderBolt port.

A surprising twist for a company known for their awesome Mac TV Tuner products, ElGato announced a ThunderBolt SSD drive in a compact, laptop size format for release later this year.

OCZ Technologies - the clear leader in the Solid-State PC and Mac SSD drive market also announced a laptop-sized SSD drive with ThunderBolt port, the LightFoot series.

Peripheral maker Belkin trotted out a multi-port ThunderBolt Hub and docking station that offers HDMI, USB 2.0, FireWire 800, Analog audio and Gigabit Ethernet ports in a sleek case - that's sadly slated to ship near the END of 2012.

Promised to ship MUCH sooner - Seagate showed off it's GoFlex ThunderBolt drive adapter to reach the market by the end of Q1 2012. The GoFlex desktop and portable drive series is already a great line of hard drive storage products with interchangeable USB2, USB 3.0, FireWire and eSATA adapters currently available. ThunderBolt adapters will help preserve and extend the value of GoFlex drive owners.

LaCie - one of the few companies besides Promise Technologies to actually ship ThunderBolt hard drive and SSD storage products in 2011- announced an interesting ThunderBolt eSATA hub/ converter that features dual ThunderBolt ports and twin eSATA ports to offer very direct drive transfers at maximum speeds.

Currently shipping, Sonnet Technology showed off it's Sonnet Echo ExpressCard/34 Thunderbolt Adapter - a great intermediary solution for those with eSATA, FireWire or USB 3.0 Express cards and drives to convert to ThunderBolt at a reasonably affordable price point.

While still proving to be a slow-road to the fast lane of truly high-speed Mac computer peripherals, ThunderBolt *IS* gaining momentum and traction - if you can wait it out and afford these products when they arrive. However, I still think the not-so dark horse in this race is USB 3.0 which is MUCH further ahead in the market and will deliver a far wider range of computer peripherals - more affordably and sooner - to the Mac (and PC) consumer marketplace.

Tags: thunderbolt mac, thunderbolt drives, thunderbolt adaptor, thunderbolt hub

The 2012 CES Consumer Electronics Show opens in Las Vegas this week - And MacWorld Expo 2012 follows up at the end of the month. Many of the things announced and displayed at CES give a hint to where Apple technology will be leaning in the year ahead. I'm betting USB 3.0 will finally make it to the Mac - and take it's rightful place alongside the ThunderBolt ports Apple's been implementing across their computer line.

SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is a technological inevitability that will find its place on billions of computers and consumer electronic devices by the end of the decade. But it's mass adoption has largely been stalled-out by heel-dragging on the part of Intel and Apple. Although hundreds of USB3 hard drives and peripherals are already available, without direct logic-board support for built-in USB3 ports, the market has struggled for years to attain critical mass. But that's about to change with Intel's upcoming Ivy-Bridge chipset with direct onboard support for USB 3.0 in the chipset. We'll see both Macs and Windows PC with USB3 ports as standard equipment on nearly all new mid and high-end computers by year's end.

5GBps USB 3.0 offers up to 10 times the bandwidth of the aging USB 2.0 specification. But it's benefits go beyond that with battery-saving power modes for more efficiency in portable devices, more milliamps to self-power hungrier USB gadgets, and most importantly - it preserves backward compatibility with legacy USB 1.1 and 2.0 peripherals. Low-Speed, High-Speed, Super-Speed can all share a USB 3.0 port or hub, and co-exist with their bandwidth differences peacefully.

For more demanding needs we'll have 10GBps ThunderBolt accessories to handle truly data-intensive computing scenarios, especially in the enterprise and professional audio and video production environments. However technically superior ThunderBolt may be, it will still be dwarfed by what the average Mac computer user wants and needs: Cheap, familiar, faster and backward compatible gadget technology. And that's exactly what SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is going to deliver in the months ahead.

Tags: Mac USB 3.0, USB 3.0 Accessories

With Mac laptops comprising more than 2 out of every 3 Macintosh computers being sold, the demand for insanely great Mac mobile accessories is booming. Along with the general trends in computing towards consolidation of components and miniaturization - it's easier to build more compact and light-weight computers and peripherals these days. It isn't that long ago that a 'portable' computer was like lugging around a sewing machine. And computer peripherals - even ones designed for Mac toting mobile professionals were the sort of thing you had to 'lug around' and not just 'pop' into a laptop bag.

Case in point: The best mobile printer for Mac to date now incorporates both USB and Bluetooth wireless connectivity and an integrated battery in a reasonably compact form-factor. It's a battery powered Mac compatible portable printer you can actually travel with.


Likewise: For those who need to scan on the road, the mobile MacBook scanner market has some slim, USB-powered photo and receipt scanning and document management devices to help you chew through paperwork at the press of a scan button.


Not all Mac laptop users need these kind of self or battery-powered travel accessories to print and scan ANYWHERE. But for certain business users who 'just-gotta' get it done, get that signed contract scanned and sent to the corporate office, or those documents or invoices scanned and printed as proof, these portable computer accessories fit the bill.

Tags: Portable Mac Printer, Portable Mac Scanner, mobile computer accessories

When first introduced on Apple MacBooks in February of 2011, that tiny ThunderBolt interface port sat poised to change the future of computer peripherals and expansion. Integrating both mind-blowingly fast direct access to the PCI-Express bus and rolling in DisplayPort monitor functionality, there's no doubt it's going to change the landscape of personal computers for the next decade and beyond. But what good are Apple-Intel ThunderBolt ports if there's not much of anything to actually plug into it?

With only PARTNERS and PROMISES - and ZERO SHIPPING PRODUCTS on the day of ThunderBolt's release, this has got to be one of the biggest Marketing and Product Rollout FLOPS Steve Jobs had to take to his grave. For months, the only Apple Inc product to cling to was a $49 ThunderBolt cable - limp and begging for something, anything to plug into it. Where was a ThunderBolt backup drive to go along with that new Mac?

Fast forward to the end of 2011. Promise Technologies was the only Pro level high-end game in town delivering ThunderBolt drives for many months. LaCie only recently moved from announced to shipping products as it utterly struggles to ramp up production and distribution of it's LittleBig Disk ThunderBolt SSD and platter drives. Seagate GoFlex ThunderBolt drive adapters have yet to ship. Sonnet Technologies line of drives and TBolt adapters are still temporarily stuck in 'Real Soon Now' mode. And the biggest player of all in storage - Western-Digital - is still only in the cheerleading section and not out on the playing field. Yet.

Yeah we got the ThunderBolt Cinema Display now: Ho-Hum. And perhaps most bizarre of all - The truly professional-grade Macintosh Pro tower workstations have YET to see an upgrade that includes ThunderBolt ports?!? That's got to be the biggest WTF I've ever seen foisted on Apple's high-end customer base.

In 2012, things can only - and WILL get better. ThunderBolt technology and it's benefits are an iceberg just breaking the surface. But what a disappointment it's been so far. Apple should be ashamed. We were sold a carriage with no horse, but I see some coming down the road towards us… "Better Late Than Never" isn't the way a world-class, leading-edge technology company like Apple ought to be addressing its customer's needs.

Tags: thunderbolt delays, intel thunderbolt rollout, Apple marketing failures

If you're raring to go - to get a jump start preparing to file 2011 taxes on a Mac - There's a digital download of TurboTax for Mac Deluxe Federal + E-file + State 2011 available NOW. The retail, boxed versions of Mac TurboTax 2011 started shipping on November 25th.

Alternately, a somewhat more affordable way to do taxes on Mac OSX is with Mac Version H&R Block At Home 2011 Deluxe + State

Be prepared for A LOT of additional update prompts between now and filing your 2011 return. Bugs get fixed, last-minute Congressional tax law changes may occur, and you'll simply want to file the most accurate Mac tax return possible.

Tags: Download Mac TurboTax 2011, 2011 turbotax for Mac OSX download

With a record 4 million+ new Apple computers being sold each quarter, there's more folks creating and promoting their web sites on a Macintosh than ever before. While there's never been a shortage of great web design software for Mac, until recently it's been harder to find OSX compatible SEO for Mac software programs to help with the task of internet marketing and back-link building.

Two things are helping Apple website owners with Search Engine Optimization and Marketing tasks in particular. First, several of the most notable SEO programs for OSX now run cross-platform using the Adobe Air platform. Programs such as Article Submission Helper, or the best All-In-One Mac SEO program out there - Market Samurai For Mac - can be written once using Adobe AIR and run on any computing platform. Second, many 'Cloud' based SEO tools and SEM link building services now live up on the web. As such many web-based Apple SEO and back link building services exist that can help you with Mac internet marketing using Safari or FireFox for Mac - no OSX application program needs to live on your hard drive at all.

In the highly completive world of dominating search engine rankings and leveraging Social Media - 'Build it and they will come' - just doesn't drive web traffic like in the good old days. You need to make it happen with great content, spot-on keyword research, quality content, an appealing website, and developing relentless Mac backlink building tactics to get your website(s) onto page one of search results. Fortunately, more SEO tools than ever exist to help Apple using web masters with those tasks.

SEO Link Building Tip : Automate Social Bookmarking with this FREE web-based Safari friendly Mac backlink tool.

Tags: seo for mac, Mac internet marketing

Storefront retailers bank on Holiday sales - and timed buyer psychology to drive a sense of bargain-price urgency. Black Friday is traditionally a Brick & Mortar post Thanksgiving event. With teaser deal's they're trying to get ALL the family and relatives packed in the car and beating down the doors before sunrise. Cyber Monday aims more for techy online internet shoppers in a *virtual* rush and bargain-hunting stampede - all from the comfort of your desk. And that's something more and more people are opting for.

For those who want Apple stuff, Apple's Black Friday promo is really the ONLY day of the year The Mac Mother Ship allows us to really snag true discounts on a NEW Mac, iPod or whatnot at the Apple Store online or in-person. For those planning a big Mac purchase - watch and wait for this one-shot chance. The specifics won't dribble out until Apple wants it to: On Thanksgiving when everyone's sitting around the table with their iPad iMac iPhone I-WANTS dominating the discussion.

MacMall isn't waiting around for Black Friday. And they don't need to, their high-volume lets them undercut Apple retail prices any day of the week:



Marketers are probably just as eager to invent a 'Super-Saturday' or 'Splurge-Sunday' to fill the gaps in a consumptive economy. But the reality is smart, frugal shopping is a year 'round endeavor that savvy Mac folk can find any day of the year - with foresight, purchase planning, and price comparisons. Camping out for 4a.m.. 'Door-Busters' 'First-Come-First-Serve' tacticts, 'Limited-Quantity' be the first to get there models are more about Bait and Switch, UNPLANNED additional purchases, and impulse buying. I'm not a big fan of that. Apple technology purchases that you and your Mac can live with long-term deserve more foresight and research.

Tags: black friday apple discounts, cyber monday mac deals, black friday 2011

There's good reason to get an early start on your US income taxes. Some deductions need to be in place prior to year's end (such as setting up a HSA - Health Savings Account), while others (such as IRA contributions) can wait up until the April 17th, 2012 tax filing deadline. Slated to ship on November 25th, the Mac TurboTax 2011 Federal and State Deluxe edition is all most will need to file a full 1040, a Schedule C for self-employed, and more.

TurboTax Mac Deluxe

Federal + State Edition
Available for PRE-ORDER

For Do-It-Yourselfer's, nobody makes tax prep on a Mac so easy. Intuit now bundles both the Windows and Mac OSX version of Turbo Tax in the same retail box to simplify purchase - and Amazon also offers a direct downloadable Mac version as well.

H&R Block's AT HOME tax program for Mac taxes 2011 Deluxe Fed + State is also available:

H&R Block Mac Tax Software 2011

Fed + State + eFile

Tags: mac turbotax 2011, 2011 tax software