Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Friday, October 3, 2008
Apple Defeats Music Rate Hike
Apple's victory: No music royalty hike. Now what?
Is Fujitsu Spinning Out Of The Hard Drive Business?
Apple Settles Class-action Suit Over Faulty Notebook Adapters
One Way to Turn a Mac Into a PC Just Got Better
Photoshop For Free? A Few Words About GIMP
Potential MacBook 16:9 Screens Compared To Current 16:10
Time For A Mac Netbook? i Don't Think So
3 Reasons Why And How We'll See An Apple Netbook Soon
5 Easy Ways To Customize the Look of Your New Mac
Apple Ups The Ante In Psystar Battle
Why Psystar Should Be Supported
No Blu-Ray On Macs... And No One Cares
Murata Working on Turning Laptop Heat Into Power
Why I'm Switching from Windows Small Business Server to Leopard Server
Asus adds HDD to Atom-based old-style Eee
Apple: A Product Plateau?
The Mac Night Owl: Is Apple Running Out of Ideas?
Apple Defeats Music Rate Hike
Fortune's Devin Leonard reports:
It looks like Apple won't be closing the iTunes store because of a dispute with music publishers over royalties on downloaded songs.
The Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, D.C., today declined a request by the National Music Publishers Association to increase royalties from 9 cents to 15 cents on songs purchased from online music stores like iTunes.
For the full report visit here:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/02/technology/ituneswins.fortune/index.htm
Apple's victory: No music royalty hike. Now what?
ZNet's Sam Diaz says:
Does this mean it's a moot point, that my blog post this morning - Could royalty rate hike force Apple to reconsider variable pricing? - is no longer relevant?
The Copyright Royalty Board has denied a request by a music publishers association to increase royalties for songwriters and publishers and froze it at the current 9 cents. So, Apple wins, iTunes didn't shut down and Steve Jobs can leave the fixed pricing model alone and forget all of that variable pricing nonsense. Right?
Maybe not......
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10282
Is Fujitsu Spinning Out Of The Hard Drive Business?
The Register's Chris Mellor reports:
Fujitsu is thought to be planning to scale down its storage business after reports that it may sell its hard disk drive business to Western Digital for 70bn to 100bn ($662-945.5m).
Fujitsu issued a statement today, saying: "There was an article in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper today regarding Fujitsu's hard disk drive business. This article is not based on information released by Fujitsu. At the current time, there is no factual basis for this media report."
WD is the world's number two HDD manufacturer, with a 22 per cent market share, behind Seagate with 34 per cent. Fujitsu, ranked sixth, has 6.6 per cent....
It is moving to focus more on 2.5in mobile drives where Seagate and WD are competing strongly, both having released 500GB products recently. Fujitsu started shipping its SATA 500GB 2.5in, 4200rpm product in May.....
There is a medium-to-long term threat to the 2.5in hard drive business from faster flash solid state drives, and HDDs need to energetically grow their capacity so as to retain their substantial cost/GB advantage over flash.....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/fujitsu_selling_hdd_biz_to_wd/
Apple Settles Class-action Suit Over Faulty Notebook Adapters
Appleinsider's Katie Marsal reports:
Apple has agreed, without admitting fault, to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that power adapters sold with certain Power PC-based iBook and PowerBook notebooks were defective in that they could dangerously fray, sparks and prematurely fail to work.
The settlement offers to provide a cash payment to customers who purchased certain model Apple PowerBook or iBook computers, had their power adapter fail within the first three years following the initial retail purchase, and then purchased a replacement adapter.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/4xrwj7
You can find out more about the class-action suit here:
http://www.gordonvapple.rosenthalco.com/
One Way to Turn a Mac Into a PC Just Got Better
The Wall Street Journal's Walter S. Mossberg says:
There are two common methods for running Microsoft Windows and Windows programs on an Apple Macintosh, and one of those methods just got better and easier.
The first approach uses a feature called Boot Camp that comes free on every new Mac. Using Boot Camp, the entire Mac is turned into a Windows PC, with the full capabilities and speed of a standard Windows machine. No trace of the Mac operating system is left running. The downside is that you can't run Windows and Mac programs side by side.
The second approach uses one of two third-party programs to create a virtual Windows PC inside your Mac. This faux Windows machine runs at normal speeds and can operate simultaneously with the Mac's own operating system. Programs native to each operating system can run side by side. The downside is that, because Windows doesn't get complete control of the computer's hardware, it isn't quite as fast as in Boot Camp, and a few of its functions, like 3D graphics, don't work as well.
This latter method is enabled by two excellent, closely matched $80 programs: Parallels, from a Swiss-based company of the same name, and Fusion, from VMWare, a U.S. company. It is Fusion that just got better, because VMWare just issued version 2.0 of the product with lots of new features, some of which let it catch up to the older Parallels and some of which push it ahead.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122290772098996487.html
Photoshop For Free? A Few Words About GIMP
Mac360's Jeffrey Mincey says:
You've heard of Adobe Photoshop, right? It's the famous, popular, highly regarded professional image manipulation tool for Mac and Windows. It's also expensive. Very expensive.
Wouldn't it be great if you could get a free Photoshop-like application for your Mac? Guess what? One exists.
Actually, more than one. It's called GIMP, but it's not a Photoshop clone. It's a mind over matter issue. If you don't mind that GIMP isn't Photoshop, then it doesn't matter.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/4zllj6
Potential MacBook 16:9 Screens Compared To Current 16:10
9To5Mac's Chauncey Dupree reports:
iMacmatician has used his mathematics skills for good and not evil to create a helpful guide for what we feel will be new MacBook screen sizes. The 16:9 ratio seems like a lock at this point so we will have some nice new sizes to choose from....
the height is about the same but the screens will become a bit wider at various sizes. Most likely the bezel around the screen will have to change significantly for the new MacBooks.
To read more, click here.
http://www.9to5mac.com/16-9-screen-sizes
Time For A Mac Netbook? i Don't Think So
MediaBistro blogger Michael says:
Forget an Apple Tablet, Kevin C. Tofel makes a good case for a Mac Netbook and as much as I want one too, it isn't going to happen.
It's just too niche of a market right now and would potentially cannibalize too much of the market for high end devices.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/4avu77
3 Reasons Why And How We'll See An Apple Netbook Soon
jkontherun.com says:
I mentioned this crazy scheme in our last podcast, but now that more blurry pics of an anticipated MacBook Pro refresh have resurfaced, it's a good time to rehash. I've been wondering if and how Apple will get into the netbook market. With millions of netbooks selling this year, I don't think it's a market they can afford to ignore. Others like HP, Dell and Lenovo agree or they wouldn't have jumped in with low-priced, small notebook computers. But Apple has a far more limited product line than the PC manufacturers, so how can they fit another device in the mix? They can't, but they still will. Here's why I think so and how I expect they'll do it.....
You can check it out at:
http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/10/3-reasons-well.html
5 Easy Ways To Customize the Look of Your New Mac
My First Mac's Chris Kerins says:
One of my top reasons for buying Apple products is that every aspect of their products is designed to perfection. The design direction coming out of Apple HQ is strong and clear. But what do you do if you don't like what they deliver? In most cases, not much. If you don't like Steve's vision, tough luck.
Fortunately, Apple has loosened its grip (somewhat) when it comes to OS X. Certainly not to the extent that many critics would like, but you can customize what your Mac looks like on screen. Let's take a look at some easy ways to customize the way your new Mac looks.
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/4xlqlh
Apple Ups The Ante In Psystar Battle
The Register's John Oates reports:
Apple has filed to dismiss with prejudice clone-maker Psystar's monopoly complaints.
The two have been trading legal blows since July when Apple accused the company of infringing on its trademarks and copyrights. Hackintosh vendor Psystar offers machines capable of running OS X from as little as $555.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/apple_psystar_dismissal/
Why Psystar Should Be Supported
CNET's Don Reisinger says:
Psystar, the hackintosh developer that's selling Mac OS X on its own machines, is finally getting some backlash from Apple over its claim that Steve Jobs and company is a monopoly. Apple claims that it's not, that it has numerous competitors, and that Psystar's complaint should be dismissed with prejudice.
I can't help but agree that, yes, Psystar's complaint of an Apple monopoly is total and utter garbage, but I think the company should be supported in its fight against Apple. I know that may not be the popular opinion in Cupertino, but the way I see it, supporting Psystar could lead to significant changes at Apple that will benefit all of us.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5yas67
No Blu-Ray On Macs... And No One Cares
TUAW's Mike Schramm says:
Danny Gorog at APC Magazine has written a really nice analysis of something that's rather strange when you think about it - why aren't there any high definition DVD drives on Macs yet? It has been asked for by a few folks, but by and large, Apple has pretty much ignored the whole high definition debate. And even now, when we supposedly have a winner in Blu-ray, Apple hasn't pulled the trigger, and consumers, as Gorog notes, haven't even really cared much....
Apple has a vested interest in selling content, and implementing some other content producer's format into their machines will take away from their best HD content channel yet: iTunes.
And customers, happy to not have to buy yet another permanent format of their favorite movies, may be satisfied with having no next-generation disc format......
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/10/02/no-blu-ray-on-macs-and-no-one-cares/
Murata Working on Turning Laptop Heat Into Power
IDG News Service's Sumner Lemon reports:
Murata Manufacturing's unicycling robot was the star attraction at the company's Ceatec booth this year, but visitors in a hurry to see the robot perform likely rushed by one of the company's more interesting projects: a thermoelectric device capable of turning heat into electricity. The device could one day find a home in laptops, and other products.....
The thermoelectric device generates electricity when two ceramic semiconductors are subjected to different temperatures. When the semiconductors are connected, the temperature gradient produces a slight electric currentt....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/151774/.html?tk=rss_news
Why I'm Switching from Windows Small Business Server to Leopard Server
Low End Mac's Andrew Fishkin reports:
About 3-years-ago I wrote an article about using Macs in my then-new law office, and about a year later, another article about moving the office to Windows. The reasons for that switch were many, though the primary reason was the lack of an equivalent to Microsoft Exchange on the server side and poor support for Exchange on the client side. There were other issues as well: unreliable hardware (see my first-generation MacBook saga), finicky native VPN access, and the clumsiness of Windows integration in early versions of Parallels and Boot Camp.
That was then, and this is now. The following is the first in a series of articles reflecting my current endeavor to bring my 5-person law firm back from a Windows shop with one Mac to a Mac shop with one (virtual) PC.
The biggest change of the last three years - and the main reason I am considering this switch - occurred on the server side with the introduction of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server, which added the one piece that has consistently been missing from the puzzle: calendar sharing.
For the full report visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/fishkin/08af/leopard-server-switch.html
Asus adds HDD to Atom-based old-style Eee
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
Asus' mix'n'match approach to Eee PC specifications and model numbers continues unabated. A version of the Celeron M-based 900, this time with an Atom processor and a hard drive, has popped up on Amazon.com.
Yes, it's the 900HA - Ha! - a 160GB HDD-equipped alternative to the SSD-bearing 900A, an Atom-based alternative to the Celeron-fitted 900, an 8.9in alternative to the Celeron-sporting 701, a... well, you get the picture....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/02/eee_900_ha_appears/
Apple: A Product Plateau?
BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl says:
Where does Apple go from here? The question lies at the heart of the media and industry buzz that so often surrounds a company adept at surprising and confounding even the most jaded observers. It's particularly pressing in light of the oblique reference to a "new product transition" made by Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer during a July conference call with analysts.
So I am left wondering, what might Apple have under its belt to surprise and delight customers over the next 6 to 24 months? Indulge me while I consider the prospect that at least for the foreseeable future, Apple has done virtually everything it could reasonably be expected to do, given consumer needs and the current state of tech and the economy. There are only so many world-changing moments that even Apple can create.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/4yucqg
The Mac Night Owl: Is Apple Running Out of Ideas?
So I saw an article in BusinessWeek, entitled "Apple: A Product Plateau?," which suggests that maybe our favorite fruit company is running out of bright ideas. Of course, the media used to claim that Apple was about to go out of business, and you saw what happened to those predictions.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2008/10/is-apple-running-out-of-ideas/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/rss
Or our new Atom feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/atom
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