When we first heard about the Kanex HDMI + digital audio converter a few weeks ago, I was eager to give it a trial run and see if it managed to deliver on the promise of integrated audio with HDMI video. I've been playing with the $70 unit for a few days now, and the answer is a qualified yes: it does the job, but depending on your home theater setup you may be able to get by with a less expensive option.

The digital-audio Kanex unit ships without a manual and is largely self-explanatory (although the company has now posted a basic user guide and FAQ) -- a female HDMI port on one side of the roughly iPod-sized unit, and three male cables coming out the other side. The cables connect to the mini DisplayPort, optical audio out, and USB port of your Mac; while Kanex does sell a $60 unit that handles audio over USB, this version only uses that connection to power the adapter and does not provide a USB audio interface. If you're running short of open powered USB ports you might opt to plug it into a USB power adapter instead.

In operation, there's not much to worry about: I plugged in all three ports to a unibody MacBook Pro and connected an HDMI display, then went to the normal Mac OS X Displays preference pane, where I found a full assortment of resolutions for my enjoyment. The top few 'television' options may vary with your connected gear; on my test set (a Vizio 42" 720p display) I was able to choose 720p and, oddly enough, 1080i and 1080p. Below that you have resolutions ranging from 640x480 up into the 1600x1000 range.

Here at TUAW, as you probably know, we really love the Mac mini. Some of us have a mini hooked up to our TV, some are used as servers, and some are used as great desktop computers (including mine).

We wanted to ask you what exactly you use your Mac mini for, so we came up with this in-depth poll. There are several choices, so let us know how you use your Mac mini.

If your favorite use for a Mac mini isn't listed in the poll, you can also leave a comment below and tell us how you use your mini.

Just days after all the hardware updates on Tuesday, Apple has posted two new support downloads.

The first, Pro Applications Update 2009-01, contains several updates for applications in Final Cut Studio. This update includes Final Cut Pro 7.0.1, Motion 4.0.1, Soundtrack Pro 3.0.1, Color 1.5.1, and Compressor 3.5.1.

This update addresses general compatibility issues, improves overall stability, and addresses a number of other minor issues.

You can download this update through Software Update, or on the Apple Support Downloads page.

Also, Apple released Apple Server Diagnostics 3X106, which replaces Apple Server Diagnostics 3X104 to provide support for Snow Leopard Server. This is compatiable with the Xserve (Early 2008 or Early 2009) or the Mac mini server config (Early 2009).

This download is also available on the Apple Support Downloads page.

Steve Sande actually did a brilliant job of explaining just why the Mac mini is so awesome the other day (and we've certainly had our share of mini-love here on the site before), but this is worth a read as well if you're interested in Apple's littlest Mac. Macminicolo, the very company that Steve lauds in his piece for colocating mini servers for a while now, has posted a "state of the mini" piece, complete with unboxing of the new mini server, pictures of its guts and how they all work together. If you've ever wondered why the mini is such a marvel of desktop OS X-ness, check out their writeup (and drool at the beautiful setup above -- so many minis!).

There are a few good things to take away from the big release this week -- while Steve is exactly right that releasing a mini server means Apple is getting on the server bandwagon, it also means that Apple is officially on the mini bandwagon. When these machines were first released, they were marketed as a switchers' computer -- bring your own mouse and monitor, and we'll show you what being on a Mac is like at a fraction of the cost. Frankly, they never shined at that purpose, prompting many people to proclaim death sentences for the little machine that could. But by releasing a server, Apple's saying, "we get it." They get that the mini is much more of a workhorse than it appears (or was meant) to be. In my mind, that's a whole new lease on life -- the mini may have never made much of a splash as a switchers' computer, but it's got a long future as a tiny but powerful computer you can use for all sorts of things.

[via DF]

A few minutes after we heard about all of the new product announcements this morning, this email came in from TUAW reader Daniel:

Can you god blessed brains explain in some easy-to-understand way what are the possibilities for a Mac mini server for us non-tech brained mortals?

Why, of course we can, Daniel! That's why we're here.

I have personally used Mac minis as servers since shortly after the first G4 models came out on the market. In fact, at one point I personally had two of them at Macminicolo.net, a wonderful little company that was founded on the belief that Mac minis were great servers. I've installed at least a dozen for clients, and they are excellent for small businesses for the following reasons:

They're inexpensive. When you start looking at an Xserve, you want to start looking at mass storage and tape libraries as well. Pretty soon, the cost of a fully-loaded Xserve starts looking astronomical to a small business. That's not to say that Xserves don't have their place -- in fact, I have had two of my clients start with Mac minis and then move to Xserves when they found that they were outgrowing the mini servers. With the new $999 price point for a mini with an unlimited Mac OS X Server 10.6 license, two built-in 500 GB drives, and 4 GB of RAM, almost anybody can afford to own a server that provides email, instant messaging, calendaring, a wiki, podcast production, and more to a small workgroup.

They make it simple. The advantage of Mac OS X Server's software suite is power with a pretty face; it exposes the UNIX power of Mac OS X (including the industry-standard Apache, PHP, Samba and Jabber/XMPP stacks) with the relative ease of the Mac. While you can certainly roll your own server setup using conventional Mac OS X (either using Apple's shipped versions of Apache & PHP, or bumping them up), having the server administration tools makes everything a lot nicer. What's more, the standalone unlimited-license version of Server is a full $499, making this a straightforward bargain.

Today, as is frequently the case, the Apple Store Online was taken down and modified to feature new goodies from our favorite fruit-flavored technology company. Now that the store is back up and ready for your ordering pleasure, what's changed?

Well, Apple introduced a whole slew of new and updated products today. Here's the highlights of what's new and different at the store:

New iMac - Revamped to include, among other new features, LED-Backlit screens, dual core and quad core processors and up to 16GB of memory.

New MacBook - Entry level MacBook redesigned to feature unibody enclosure, built-in battery and LED-Backlit screen.

New Mac mini - Revised to include more memory, larger hard drives and with a special "Server" version featuring dual 500GB hard drives and Snow Leopard Server.

New "Magic" Mouse - Gone is the trackball, replaced by a seamless top-shell design that acts as one button or two, It also features a Multi-Touch surface with gesture support.

New Apple Remote - Not as exciting as new Macs but still, kinda cool if you like to control your Macs, um, remotely.

Other items of note reflected in the new products today include the removal of Firewire 400 from all Macs and the removal of the last Mac with a replaceable battery. End of an era folks, end of an era.

Be sure to keep it right here at TUAW all day for in-depth reports on all of today's Apple announcements.

The refreshed Mac minis predicted yesterday by John Gruber of Daring Fireball, did indeed debut this morning and with a modest refresh. According to Business Week, the new entry-level mini (still at $599) offers the 2.26 GHz chip that used to be an optional upgrade. The $799 upgrade offers a 2.53 GHz performance boost.

I bought my latest mini this past Spring. Introduced last March at the same $599/$799 starting prices, those models have offered excellent performance, a 5th USB Port (I mention this as a confirmed and unrepentant USBaholic), and built in dual monitor support. (You do have to buy a second, mini Display cable to use that second monitor. I got mine from an Apple Store for about 30 bucks.)

At that time, I stuck with the 2.0GHz processor and opted for the 4GB RAM upgrade and larger (320GB) disk drive. And, let me tell you, those choices (for which I thank all the people at Twitter who offered advice) were excellent. I haven't missed the top processor speed (there was a 2.26GHz option), the extra RAM was awesome, and I didn't have to crack the case to upgrade to a better disk. I recommend you do the same today: cheapest processor (now the 2.26 GHz chip), 4GB RAM, and the larger (500 GB) disk option. If you're in the mood for extra storage yumminess, consider the dual disk server configuration: an entire Terabyte of disk in a single sweet mini.

You can read more about this upgrade at Apple's refreshed Mini features page. And yes, the store is still down at the time this post went live. Maybe someone forgot to feed the hamsters.

Our sharp-eyed iPhone goddess, Erica Sadun, alerted us to the fact that there's a small, but potentially important, update that has just shown up in Software Update.

Performance Update 1.0 "addresses intermittent hard drive-related stalls reported by a small number of customers." It may not show up for you, unless you have one of the following Macs:

MacBook Air (Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2.53GHz, Mid 2009), iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Early 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Mid 2009), MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), MacBook Air (Late 2008), MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2008), iMac (24-inch, Early 2009), iMac (20-inch, Early 2009), Mac mini (Early 2009)

If you own one of these models, be sure to load the update at your earliest convenience, especially if you have experienced the problem described in the update notes.

Thanks to Erica and to Joachim Bean, who provided the link to the Apple KB article.

As we and others have posted over the past few days, there is a rumor that a new or redesigned iMac, Mac mini and MacBook models are coming very soon. Now, this week brings reports of Google ads supposedly touting the rumored Mac mini, iMac and MacBook models. These ads have been spotted in several European countries, in Dutch and in a few other languages. They read as follows:


"Apple's Nieuwste MacBook®"
"store.apple.com/nl/macbook Dunner, lichter en krachtiger! Gratis bezorging. Bestel vandaag."


Which translates to:
"Apple's Newest MacBook ®"
"store.apple.com/nl/macbook Thinner, lighter and stronger! Free delivery. Order today. "



"Apple Store: New iMac"
"store.apple.com/nl-store Ultradunne 20 & 24 inch modellen. Vanaf slechts €1099. Apple Store"


Which translates to:
"Apple Store: New iMac"
"store.apple.com/nl-store Ultra thin 20 & 24 inch models. From only € 1099. Apple Store"



"Apple's Nieuwe Mac mini"
store.apple.com/nl-store Sneller en betaalbaarder dan ooit. Vanaf slechts €499. Bestel meeten."


Which translates to:
"Apple's new Mac mini '
store.apple.com/nl-store faster and more affordable than ever. From only € 499. Buy assay. "

Again, this points to yet more reasons why there could be new iMac, Mac mini and MacBook models coming soon. These new models are expected to be released before October 9th, so keep a look out.

[via AppleInsider]

When we published our "Ultimate Mac mini Home Theater" guide in August, I drooled along with everyone else at the idea of supercharging my HDTV with a mini for movie and music playback. Something nagged at me, though, as I looked over the options for going from the mini's video-out ports (the current model sports both DVI and Display Port) to the HDMI standard connector that most TVs expect nowadays... how to get that digital audio signal onto the HDMI link, and avoid a second set of cables to handle sound? It seemed less than graceful.

If you want to skip over a clunky external converter box like this one, current minis and other Macs featuring the Mini Display Port connector now have a new option for HDMI; Kanex's two audio-included connectors can put the sound onto the HDMI link where it belongs.

Kanex is selling two models of the connector (both are on extremely limited availability right now, the company says). The $60 Digital Audio version includes a TOSLINK optical connector for premium quality sound, and the USB Audio version delivers analog audio for $50 [as of 10/20, the price has gone up on this unit to $60 as well]. Both let you put all your eggs in the HDMI basket and clear your cable clutter, while simplifying your TV remote input dance as you try to get the audio and video sorted.

We're hoping to get our hands on one of these units soon and we'll let you know how it performs.

Thanks to Michael W. for the tip.

We have received countless tips about the availability of iMacs and Mac Minis, or lack thereof. AppleInsider posted earlier that Apple notified retailers that Mac mini orders will not be filled at the moment -- but soon. A later update states that the low-end Mac mini has been discontinued entirely, leaving us to believe that we'll be seeing a hardware upgrade shortly.

Several of our tipsters work for Apple Authorized re-sellers who are running very low on desktop supplies; there's even an Apple Store employee tip saying they have 4 iMacs in stock. When I worked at the Apple Store, there were always 40+ iMacs in stock. Having 4 in a store is just unheard of -- unless there's something in the works. The day of, or a few before, the announcement, we would always get a couple pallets worth of machines that were labeled "Do Not Open Until" with either a date or "notification from corporate."

Another tipster ordered a mini on September 18th, and received shipping information, but today received an email saying that their Mac mini order will ship on October 9th.

Lastly, an Apple Store employee "confirmed" the rumor of new machines being out this October to one of our readers. I have to speculate and say that the employee (who we won't name) is probably reading too many rumor sites. Apple does not tell their retail employees about product refreshes for this exact reason. It's too risky -- one careless employee could essentially steal all of Apple's ability to announce a cool, new product. We're pretty good at digging the information up anyways... but why make it easy for us?

We're hoping that these rumors don't amount to a minor speed bump... SD Card slots, Blu-ray, Cinema Display styled design -- If we don't see something new, we'll all be somewhat disappointed. We're also hoping for a MacBook refresh but that conversation has paled in comparison to the iMac and Mac mini rumors. We've been on the edge of our seats since Monday when the store went down twice. Each time gave us no fruit from the Apple tree, but we'll keep an eye out. Let us know if you hear anything else about it via our tips page or in the comments.

After my post earlier this week about transmitting Mac audio, readers contacted me about extending this solution. Although they liked the idea of direct audio while working out on a treadmill or exercise bike, several stated that they also wanted to watch from the sofa once the spouse or the kid go to sleep. The idea was the same: audio transmission to an iPhone or iPod touch. The source was different. They wanted to watch live cable TV or their TiVo. And for the punchline, their media center Mac lacks a tuner. Was there a similar quiet Mac-based solution that would let them transmit the TV audio from these non-Mac sources?

If your Mac has a microphone jack, internal or even through an external USB solution, the answer is yes. You can easily connect your TV audio to your Mac just like you would connect it to a pair of speakers. Run a cable between a spare audio output (modern TVs usually offer more than one, if not, you can use a splitter) to the microphone jack on the Macintosh. On my low-end TV, this means an RCA stereo cable that feeds to a standard stereo minijack plug.

Setting up the Mac host is simple. Instead of feeding audio via Soundflower, as described in the earlier post, choose your microphone audio input in the Skype settings. Start a call to your iPhone or iPod touch, switch the TV source (usually via a "Source" button that picks which signal to watch, such as Composite 1, Component 2, etc.) to your normal cable or TiVo input. Set the external speaker volume to zero. The signal arrives at the Mac microphone independently of those speakers.

You may find that the audio out signal tends to be on the low side. Many TV speakers provide their own amplification. If this is a problem for you, you can hook in an inline amplifier. (I use an old Radio Shack 277-1008C.) Alternatively, you can boost the audio via a third party program like Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack Pro.

This solution takes a few more cables, components, and connections than the Mac Audio-to-iPhone through Skype set-up discussed in the earlier post. But if you have the cables on-hand already, it offers an inexpensive solution compared to many other wireless TV headsets on the market right now.

Earlier this month, I wrote about connecting my old Mac mini to my television . My mini offers a great Apple TV-style lifestyle with none of the Apple TV limitations. It's a real Mac running real Snow Leopard, albeit on an older, admittedly limited mini. I have Front Row, EyeTV, QuickTime, and more, all ready to entertain me on demand, as well as standard system access to mail, web browsing, etc.

The sound in my living room is powered by a couple of speakers that shipped with an ancient computer monitor. Their audio works fine for close-up TV watching and Wii playing. Move across the room and those speakers prove how limited they are. Add in a treadmill with its motor noises, and the sound decreases to virtually nothing.

So how can one listen to those great shows that are playing back on that lovely large screen across the room, especially when walking or jogging on the treadmill? I messed around with several solutions until I stumbled across one that really worked well for me. Using my home's 802.11g Wi-Fi network, I could call my iPhone from my Mac using Skype. With only the most minimal of lags, I was able to transmit live audio and watch my favorite shows on the Mac while listening on the iPhone from my treadmill.

Read on to learn how I accomplished this...

We bought our Olevia 47" on Black Friday, 2007. It wasn't a particularly well rated TV. But it was a Black Friday deal that we could afford and it gave us far more screen space than we'd thought we'd be able to purchase. It has served us well through the years, hosting any number of gadgets with its generous ports. The thing supports HDMI, composite and component, with multiple attachments for each. The back of the TV looks like a sea of cables and connectors.

Its VGA connector has not seen much use over the years and I've been dying to give it a go. A lack of spare computers was our problem. When my Mac mini died this past winter, I replaced it with a fresh new current-generation mini, which we all love. The dead mini languished until I realized that I needed a Snow Leopard machine for testing during the SL beta. I ended up doing some home brew fix-it with an absolutely minimal 80GB disk bought from Newegg and a few tweaks. And for the last few months, Rome (as in the baking apple) has been my primary 10.6 beta desktop system.

That all changed on Friday. Snow Leopard debuted. And I was finally free to re-purpose this system. Read on to see how.