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... as a means to ditch Windows, but not completely. But honestly, if you read through the article and how it's 'almost like Windows' but without the security issues, the author makes it read as if it was simple and transparent at the beginning. You then learn that Xandros uses Crossover and Win4Lin. And that he sometimes uses IE via Crossover and sometimes on Win98 in Win4Lin... Wouldn't it be just much easier to either use Windows XP (applying all the patches when they're available) or, to get rid of it, use a Mac? (Read this article for more about UN*X on the Desktop at macnews.net.tc...)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-30 at 11:09 CET ]
With still no new Tiger builds available after WWDC 2004, ThinkSecret takes another look at the WWDC build's Safari release. With pictures.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-29 at 22:35 CET ] Apple warns Real and its users that future software upgrades (and future iPods) might not play Real's songs. Apple also said: "We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, and we are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA and other laws."
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-29 at 16:09 CET ] That curious time.com remark about 4G iPod The article is here. And the important (?) quote: "But you should know that internally the new iPod is a ground-up reconstruction, and its really compelling applications - the ones that very well might get the goat of anyone unable or unwilling to upgrade - are still secret. All that Apple is saying is that there's more to this than what's being publicized." - It certainly sounds as if time.com heard a hint at features not publicized yet. However, we doubt that. Would certainly be cool if it actually were a colour screen, just not using them with current firmware, eh? ;-)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-29 at 15:33 CET ] AppleInsider rumours that a next PowerBook revision could make use of the so-called 'PPC G4 Extended' by Motorola, running at up to 2.0 GHz. Our own sources, however, point out that Motorola is set to release the MPC 7458 and 7448 at speeds of up to 1.8 Ghz 'soon' (earlier 7448 rumours). If Apple is doing one more G4 round of PowerBooks, we're expecting them not to reach 2.0 GHz, sadly. The first PowerBooks with 2 GHz are expected to be based on a low-power G5 processor by IBM - but certainly not this year. We also recently talked about PowerBooks here (Radeon Mobility 9800) and here (no competition, really).
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-29 at 14:01 CET ] MacBidouille reports that Hitachi will unveil a 6 GB version of their microdrive later this year. While not a massive jump, a version with more space of the iPod mini would certainly be appreciated by customers. In somewhat related news: Switzerland sees the first pink iPod minis (seems they're the worst sellers in other parts of the world, then...) at Heiniger AG's online shop.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-29 at 13:42 CET ]
Apple releases WebObjects 5.2 Developer Evaluation ... to ADC Select members. So if you've got ADC Select access and want to take a closer look at WebObjects, this is the time for it.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-28 at 22:01 CET ] Apple has just seeded build 7M28 of Mac OS X 10.3.5.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-28 at 03:49 CET ]
Bluetooth headsets with CD-quality You can read more about them in German here on heise.de or directly (in English) on Zeevo's site. Zeevo is offering the ZV4301 chip for device makers. This could, basically, enable future Bluetooth-iPods to stream music wirelessly to a stereo headset. But there are, of course, other uses for this technology, too. For example iChat, or simply listening to music wirelessly from your PowerBook.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-27 at 18:45 CET ] ATi introduces Radeon Mobility 9800 And we can quite safely assume that this chip will be used in future PowerBooks. Currently, we expect Apple to ship new PowerBooks (still based on G4) in the last quarter of 2004 (Oct-Dec), unless a G5 version can be delivered by January 2005, which is still in discussion.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-27 at 18:41 CET ]
ThinkSecret is hinting at Apple's iSync feedback page, where version 1.5 can already be selected as the version used. Current beta builds of Mac OS X 10.3.5 still sport iSync 1.4, so iSync 1.5 is probably developed separately at Apple.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-26 at 18:39 CET ]
Reading some articles around the web about Real's Harmony technology (for example this one), I can't help but notice that 'they' (the article writers) get something wrong. They seem to think that Real's approach might harm Apple. Sure, some iPod owners might consider (also) using Real's store instead of just iTMS. But what rather will happen is that users of the Real Online Music Store will consider the iPod as a viable digital music player now.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-26 at 16:40 CET ] Real's Harmony technology: iPod compatible Real announces that their technology dubbed 'Harmony' will let iPod users buy, download and use songs from the RealPlayer Music Store. This after Apple turned down Real's plea to support the Real AAC format on the iPod directly. Real's effort to support the iPod certainly shows how important the iPod is in the digital music market - and how the iPod's position of being the one most important digital music player will eventually be a real winner for Apple, with other players adopting the technology Apple uses instead of the other way 'round. It's just not necessary for Apple to support WMA or Real.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-26 at 10:39 CET ]
says AppleInsider. Isn't this a bit, well, late?
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-23 at 11:15 CET ]
WIRED takes a look at the birth of the iPod.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-22 at 13:09 CET ]
ThinkSecret brings us another instance of their Tiger reports. This time about the Finder and System changes, which aren't so many (yet), as testers of the WWDC build have confirmed.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-22 at 13:08 CET ] iTMS Europe adds 3 indie labels "Apple(R) today announced that it has signed licensing agreements with three of the largest European independent music labels, Beggars Group, Sanctuary Records Group and V2, adding tens of thousands of additional independent tracks from leading artists to the iTunes(R) Music Store in the UK, France and Germany. With three of the most influential independent record labels on board, iTunes Music Store customers in Europe now have access to an impressive catalog of independent artists including Basement Jaxx, The Crystal Method, Interpol, The Libertines, Morrissey, the Pixies, Prodigy, Stereophonics, Paul Weller and The White Stripes." - Full press release here. So, basically, all's well in the best online music store of Europe. Now let's have _all_ European countries up and running as soon as possible, please... ;-)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-22 at 12:53 CET ]
Is there a competitor? At all?
Today I was talking with a colleague. About how some luxury cars are different from others. I won't tell what each of our favourite was, because I don't want to start a flame about luxury cars. However: We both agreed that once you enter a certain segment of luxury, the product starts to feel finished, complete yet simple and - of course - beautiful.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-20 at 12:31 CET ] 60 GB drive speculation around the web With Apple _not_ releasing a 60 GB iPod today, people are currently driving crazy, it seems, around the web. Apple's inofficial statement: No 60 GB iPod. There are several possibilities now. The most probable one: The 60 GB iPod will come, but later on (Apple Expo Paris?). The less probable ones include video iPods and a more simple 'PowerPod' (aluminum) with additional 'professional' features like 'home on iPod'.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-20 at 01:04 CET ]
HP's iPod is coming in September. And it's going to be based on the 4G iPod now.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-19 at 15:39 CET ] And one thought about iPod's UI
I'm very glad that Apple has now gone back to the initial design of the scroll wheel with the four buttons around it for both the iPod mini and the 4G iPod. The 3G iPod's line of four buttons was a clear step away from the simplicity of the original iPod (and the 2G iPod, of course).
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-19 at 14:57 CET ] Pricing and everything was correct, too. 299 USD for the 20 GB model, 399 USD for the 40 GB model. The 'highend' spot of 499 USD is now free for the 60 GB model, which Apple will reportedly release in a few weeks. Info about the new iPods and here's the link to the Apple Online Store...
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-19 at 14:47 CET ]
It's three pages of iPod glorification. Granted, the iPod's worth the glorification, but that comes from an Apple fan, doesn't it. ;) Right now, the article seems to be down, though... But the cover of the magazine, which is the really important part, has been copied throughout the web already (even to less-rumoury sites such as MacCentral).
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-18 at 11:52 CET ]
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-18 at 04:40 CET ]
Quite an extensive Sendo X review
... to be found here at TheRegister. The author uses a PowerBook 12", so he's a fine guy, anyway. ;-) ... We've been talking about the Sendo X over and over again (search for 'sendo'), but the smartphone based on the Series 60 platform just isn't available yet here in Switzerland (and most other European countries), but I'm told it should be available 'this Summer' (if _that_ ever comes, although today was nice and hot).
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-17 at 22:31 CET ] And they're confirmed. They're going to be slightly smaller (slightly, really) and will resemble the iPod mini in design of the scrollwheel (buttons inside), which is good. Whether they're going to come in mulitple colours or only aluminum remains to be seen, though.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-17 at 21:22 CET ]
Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.3.5 7M20
After seeding 7M18, Apple has now given ADC Select and Premiere members this new build. The 41 MB sized file is an update for 10.3.4, actually, and not a combined updater. While it may still contain debug information that will be removed from a final version, it'll anyway be quite a big update. The seed note does not contain any changes from 7M18 according to our sources.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-16 at 12:33 CET ]
SonyEricsson unveils P910 smartphone The new version of SE's highend smartphone includes a thumbboard that makes SMS and E-Mail handling easier. The basic featureset stays the same, but memory is up to 64 MB (from 16) and the included memory stick is 32 MB (up from 16). More info and pictures can be found at infoSync.no.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-15 at 14:12 CET ] Apple's 3rd fiscal quarter: Good. ... and the new iMacs are going to be based on the G5 processor. A happy day for Apple and Mac users alike, it seems. Also mentioned by rumour site ThinkSecret: New iPods soon, with smaller form factor and in several colours instead of white. Well, I hope they'll still make a white one or a silver one, since I wanna buy one soon... ;-)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-15 at 01:35 CET ]
Tiger Detail: Fast Logout & Autosave
We're going to bring you several tidbits about Tiger in the coming weeks and months. The first of these is a treat by Apple, really. We're going to like this... For example, if you start typing an e-mail message in Mail.app in Tiger and then choose 'Logout' from the Apple menu, Mail.app has already saved your draft ("Autosave") and the logout can happen really fast ("Fast Logout"). Whether this will be implemented or not in the applications you use is of course on the developer's side. But it's a good thing that Apple defines such things for Tiger.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-14 at 19:29 CET ] ADC members receive their Tiger seed As we anticipated on 2004-07-09, ADC Select and Premier members have been shipped the Tiger Preview by snail mail. There are, however, no newer builds available on ADC so far.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-14 at 15:03 CET ] About Tiger's Windows integration ... or the lack of talk about it. This three page eWeek article talks about how Apple still seems to forget about how important this is for Apple's business appeal. My note on this, however is: The industry seems to be begging Apple for a business strategy. And Apple stays as mum as it has been before. It doesn't seem to want into the business sector, or it would speak out, wouldn't it?
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-14 at 13:09 CET ]
I've been testing my gmail-account in the past few weeks now and can only say: I'm impressed. They're going down the right path with this one, it seems. There still are some glitches (which they know about), but they're probably going to be fixed soon. The interface is one of the best web-application interfaces I've seen so far - and certainly the best web-mail interface I've seen.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-13 at 13:48 CET ]
to ADC Select & Premier members. The new code is called 'Beta 2'. In other news, Jaguar is running a competition for a black iPod. They seem to have forgotten to also colour the buttons black, though. And: Currently, the linked site is not available.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-12 at 20:33 CET ] I hope I can share this the right way... [off-topic!] I had quite some fun reading the comments to this osNews article about computer annoyances. One of the annoyances is boot time, and one Windows XP user answers that like this: "I am happy using hibernation. If XP begins to feel buggy, then I reboot." - The problem with this, of course, is that XP begins to feel buggy as soon as anyone's actually using it, which would result in an endless loop of reboots... :P - And btw. it's nice to read so many comments about how the Mac awakes from sleep in 1 second. That's really one of the big achievements Mac OS X has made over previous (and all other) operating systems.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-12 at 12:51 CET ]
So they've got their new Mac Centre. And they stop supporting the Mac soon. Which one's true now? Palm has been supporting and skipping support for the Mac throughout the years, and it's always been a game of hide and seek for Mac users. Then Apple made a big step by introducing Palm support with iSync - but didn't quite succeed. Also, that solution still needs Palm's desktop software, so it won't support models that don't come with basic Mac support. The one solution out of this misery I see: Get a smartphone from Nokia or SonyEricsson that works with the Mac out of the box through iSync - and forget about Palm and PDAs, as they're not necessary any longer.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-10 at 13:02 CET ] Yet another "plan how to save Apple"
You'll find it here at BusinessWeek. Alex Salkever talks about his "six-step plan for Apple".
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-10 at 12:57 CET ]
ADC Select Members get Tiger on 2004-07-12 ADC Select members got a note that they'll get access to Tiger Preview on 12th of July. We're expecting newer builds of Tiger shortly after that.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-09 at 16:00 CET ] SIPphone to introduce Mac client Interested in VoIP? Go to SIPphone's website later today (Friday). It sounds interesting, although I think this'd be for US customers mainly?
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-09 at 10:22 CET ] Apple seeds Mac OS X 10.3.5 7M18 Major areas of change: Audio/Sound, Bluetooth, Firewire, Graphics, OpenGL, Mail, Safari, Networking. We'll know more in the future about the quality of this build. Right now, this is all the info we've got.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-09 at 10:15 CET ]
ThinkSecret about Tiger's Spotlight You'll find their article here. While it doesn't add much more information to what has already been said before, it kinda 'covers it all' again and is food for the hungry rumour mouths. Apple has yet to seed another build after the WWDC Preview, which will - hopefully - bring the GUI advances Steve Jobs' build at WWDC obviously had over the build that was handed out.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-08 at 09:42 CET ]
Is UN*X ready for the Desktop?
I've chosen this day to make some fun of the linux geeks. Sorry, if you happen to be one and feel a bit irky after reading this...
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-07 at 13:15 CET ]
iPods are security threat for companies ... says Gartner Group. Because you can use the iPod as an external harddrive, which allows malicious code to be brought into the company and intellectual property outside of the company. Of course, that should then read 'external harddrives' instead of 'iPods', eh? We asked a security specialist (my mom is a secretary) about the subject, and she said: "They should also ban fax machines, as these are much more likely to be used for bringing confidential information to the outside. Oh, and, yeah: That lady who brings the coffee. So we have three main issues at hand: iPods, fax machines and the lady who brings the coffee."
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-06 at 18:49 CET ] Or something like that. Fun to read, although I think he's pushing the limits of his ability to write on some of his EIGHT pages switching column. (From an Acer notebook to an iBook G4 12".)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-06 at 01:21 CET ]
MacRumors' 2.5/2.0 GHz benchmark comparison flawed As you can read here at MacBidouille (if you understand French), MacRumors is comparing apples and oranges (although both machines are by Apple) when showing a dual 2.5 GHz's Cinebench numbers (using a beta optimised for the G5) vs. a dual 2.0 GHz's numbers (using a non-optimised version). The 2.5's numbers are okay. But the 2.0 would do better using the same code.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-05 at 15:21 CET ]
Now let's see. DVD quality video, encoded with H.264. A 90 minute movie fits onto a CD-R if encoded by H.264. Including 3 language and 5 subtitle tracks. With broadband connections, such movies can be downloaded in acceptable amounts of time. Apple has the technology (QuickTime, iTMS) and the connections (Akamai for networking, Pixar for the movie industry) to do this. Will we buy H.264 (MP4 would make a good name for those) flicks for 10 USD (or 9.99 for marketing reasons) a piece in 2005?
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-05 at 10:32 CET ]
From the notes: "The purpose of the DotMacKit and its contained classes is to give developers allof the tools that they would require to tightly integrate the Internet-based services offered by Apple in its .Mac product with their own." And: "The .Mac Kit will allow you to build applications with networked features to leverage .Mac's 24/7 service and over one half million paying membersÑall without any network programming. It will also cover the new .Mac-enhanced features in Tiger such as syncing to .Mac with SyncServices as well as the new dynamic DNS capabilities of Rendezvous."
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-04 at 11:16 CET ]
And I still hate to rant. Really. This time this is about a formerly very, very good website: PowerPage.org. They seem unable to control their content for quality. A recent article titled "Iraqi Security Forces use PowerBooks" shows the following picture. Are PowerPage's editors blind?
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-03 at 16:35 CET ] WIRED: "Searching for the perfect OS" This WIRED article talks about the reasons and consequences of Spotlight in Tiger. A quote: "If it's implemented well, Spotlight may become an extremely interesting technology. It's obvious that with the growing amount of data that's stored on today's computers, it becomes more and more important to have the means to search this plethora of information in an efficient manner." That's right. However, Tiger's still about a year away - and until then, Objective Development has part of the answer with LaunchBar 4 (currently in public beta).
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-03 at 16:05 CET ]
Some Safari 2.0 (Tiger) details AppleInsider reports on Safari 2.0 Beta in Tiger. They also state that "Apple didn't recreate the web" since Safari's first beta. However, Dave Hyatt's newest blurb about Dashboard tells a different story about WebKit. Interesting stuff - and a good approach by Apple.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-02 at 18:03 CET ]
Seems like a nice error. ;-)
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-02 at 16:38 CET ] The PowerPage.org is rumouring Apple's investment in slimmer, thinner harddrives and optical drives for next generation PowerBooks. The limiting factor: The PowerPC G5.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-02 at 12:06 CET ]
Source: Apple. Yes, you've read right. The Apple Store says that Apple planned to empty the stock on 'old' iMacs for the time when the new one would be ready, that now they're basically out of iMacs and the new one would be announced and released in September. G5? You bet.
[ written by fryke™ on 2004-07-01 at 23:55 CET ]
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