The Missing Sync has long been the way for smartphone owners to keep their data synchronized with their Macs. The program has been available for most smartphones and now can add the Palm Pre to the list of supported phones. Version 1.0 of the Missing Sync for the Pre has some interesting features that take advantage of the special Synergy technology on the Pre.

Synergy is the Pre’s ability to have PIM information shared among the various apps on the phone along with info from the web. Missing Sync provides synchronization of iCal, Entourage, Address Book, iTunes and iPhoto on the Mac with the Pre. Using Synergy the Pre will then present Mac Address Book contacts with Google and Facebook contacts pulled from the web. Mac iCal calendars also appear layered into the Pre calendar app.

Proximity syncing is supported with this version of Missing Sync as the program can be configured to automatically sync over Wi-Fi whenever the Pre is near the Mac. The ability to sync Safari bookmarks to the Pre is coming soon via a program update when available.

The Missing Sync for the Pre is $39.95 and can be found on the Missing Sync web site.

This seems to be a small USB Wi-Fi card with a giant antenna, but I’m not really sure it will actually boost the Wi-Fi range of a Mac as claimed. The Quicky Jr II from Quickertek plugs into any USB port on a Mac running OS X 10.4 or later, and the company claims it boosts the range of Wi-Fi by three times.

Quicky Jr II supports 802.11 b/g/n, and I guess it replaces the internal Wi-Fi on your Mac. It will set you back $90 to find out how well it works, which is kind of expensive, especially for a clunky USB solution to a problem you may not have. Of course, if you can’t reach your home Wi-Fi network all the way out by the pool, maybe this is for you.

(via TUAW)

My 13-inch MacBook has been a great workhorse for me with one recurring problem — the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse would lose its connection every so often. Not a major problem, but annoying for sure. The solution has been to manually disconnect the mouse once the MacBook loses the ability to talk to it, and then reconnect it. This is all done through the Bluetooth menu.

That may be a thing of the past, as Apple recently released a Bluetooth Firmware 2.0 update that “provides bug fixes and better compatibility with the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard.” The update should be obtained through the Software Update feature — if not, go get it.

Our poll has only been active for a bit, but there’s already some good feedback about how readers keep netbooks in sync with other computers. Making sure you have the files you need on any device you use is critical and, in timely fashion, our sister blog has a great guide for BlackBerry users. TheAppleBlog’s guide breaks down How-To: Transfer Files Between Your BlackBerry and OS X Via Bluetooth.

It is actually pretty simple to do, and following the straightforward instructions, will get your files flying back-and-forth in no time. When you need that one important file, you really need it, even if there is no Wi-Fi around.

The Apple WWDC keynote has just ended, and we can share the highlights of the event with you now. The MacBook Pro line is being refreshed already, and the biggest change is the addition of the 13-inch model. The 13-inch unibody MacBook that Kevin and I both own will go away and become a MacBook Pro model going forward. Apple also introduced the new iPhone model, the iPhone 3G S, which will sell for $199 (16 GB) and $299 (32 GB).

Image courtesy Engadget

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro will get faster processors and, like the rest of the new Pro line, SD card slots. Oh yes, Apple is putting the Firewire port back — guess it got tired of listening to people grousing about the removal. The 13-inch MacBook Pro will start at $1,199.

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will get the fixed seven-hour battery on the current 17-inch model, and the low-end configuration will go with just the integrated graphics for $1,699.

The MacBook Air is updated and gets a cheaper starting price of $1,499.

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The mania over the Palm Pre should probably take a rest a bit today now that the phone is actually appearing in the hands of the true geeks who couldn’t wait to pick one up. It’s good timing, too, with the WWDC starting tomorrow, where a new iPhone is expected to be announced. Apple could be playing with us all and maybe won’t announce a new phone, but you can never tell.

Our sister blog, TheAppleBlog, will be at the Apple event and will be live blogging it, so you can tap into the excitement from afar. You get extra geek quotient points if you follow the live blogging on a Palm Pre.

The folks at Yanko Design have so many cool concept products, and the MacBook Touch concept is as cool as any. There have been many rumors flying around about some sort of Mac Touch tablet or netbook, and this concept addresses them all.

The MacBook Touch defined is something I would buy in a heartbeat due to this special hinge and display that covered both sides of the “netbook”. The amount of thought that went into this concept is amazing, and the resultant device can be used as a giant slate, a notebook with touch keyboard or in a number of other configurations.  Check out their design and see if you agree how cool a product this would be.

No matter how long and hard fans call for a Mac Netbook, the folks at Apple want to remove all doubt that they absolutely, positively will not produce one at this time. Every exec at Apple has taken repeated opportunities to make that point glaringly clear. The latest example was COO (and acting Steve Jobs) Tim Cook during the company’s recent financial conference call. If there was any, even slight, remaining doubt whether Apple will make a netbook, Cook’s definition of the genre should put an end to that:

When I’m looking at what’s sold in the Netbook market, I see cramped keyboards, junky hardware, very small screens, bad software. Not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on. As it exists today, we’re not interested in it nor would it be something customers would be interested in the long term. We are looking at the space. For those who want a small computer that does browsing/email, they might want an iPhone or iPod Touch. If we find a way to deliver an innovative product that really makes a contribution, we’ll do that.

So there you have it. While many have struggled with the proper way to define the netbook, Apple has boiled it down to the simple: a cramped keyboard, very small screen, junky hardware and bad software. That’s funny; it only took some of us 69 seconds to be impressed with a junky netbook running Mac OS X.

We’ve been all over the REDFLY since it first appeared. The REDFLY is the ultra-portable notebook-like device that doesn’t do anything on its own, but when you connect it to your Windows Mobile phone things get really interesting. The REDFLY simply shoots your phone’s screen to the bigger REDFLY screen and brings a nice keyboard and trackpad to use with your phone.

What makes the REDFLY work so well is it’s near instant-on and the fact that it gets through a full day on a single battery charge. It has no memory nor processor of its own to eat the battery, it uses the resources of the phone to run things. It’s surprisingly good at what it does and if you doubt that then you need to check out the 3-part series on Gear Diary. Carly Z put the REDFLY to the ultimate test and left the MacBook at home for a week and just used the REDFLY. The results may surprise you but here’s a teaser:

The other area that I did not expect to get so dependent on was having my phone so tightly integrated with my computer. Answering text messages, phone calls, emails, and browsing the news all without having to swap devices once was like geek nirvana.

Check out the entire series:

• Can a REDFLY replace my macbook Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

I am a dual-OS kind of guy. A web worker who needs to use both OS X and Windows on a daily basis. I have been asked by some folks how I do that and why I do it so I figured the easiest way was to show with a video how it works. I run OS X on the 13-inch MacBook and often have Windows Vista (or Windows 7) running on it under Parallels Desktop which is very slick. In the video you’ll see how well the two OSes play nice with each other and see how seamless I can make the transition. You’ll also get a glimpse at the software I use every day and some new programs I am testing.