Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Monday, March 10, 2008
Is Microsoft Losing Ground With Portable Computer Users?
Macworld Reviews MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz and 2.5GHz
Penryn iMac and Mac mini a few weeks away?
First Benchmarks for the new High-End MacBook Pro
Good design: Apple's Software Update, And Listening To A Ford F150 Truck
How a MacBook Air Baffled Airport Security
Travel tip for MacBook Air Users: Leave Extra Time For Airport Security
Apple's Time Capsule Eases Backing Up Wirelessly
Buyer's Remorse: Trading Up a Week-old MacBook
How To Make The Most Of Your Mac's Mouse
Beatles Songs To Go Online? Not So, Says Apple (Corps)
Yahoo's New Appeal to Women
Apple Hammers Competing Computer Hardware Manufacturers In January Visits
BBC iPlayer beta Released For iPhone and iPod Touch
How To Burn a DVD on Your Mac
Pentagon Bans Google From Making Maps On Bases
Is Microsoft Losing Ground With Portable Computer Users?
InformationWeek's Dave Methvin says:
Hey, what is going on here? In Thursday's list of Amazon's best-selling portable computers, only seven out of the top 25 run Windows! As you might expect, Apple takes a lot of the spots, but it's not just MacBooks. The Linux-based Asus Eee PCs and Nokia tablets are grabbing high positions in the list. That's a lot of computers that aren't paying tribute to Microsoft.
Let's come back to earth for <BR>a moment, though. Direct vendors like Dell, and sales through corporate channels, aren't represented in Amazon 's ranking. The recent market share data shows that although Apple's share of the market is growing faster than any other manufacturer, Microsoft OEMs rule the roost. Still, it's a thing that makes you go, "Hmmm." There are some disturbing signs here.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/is_microsoft_lo.html
Macworld Reviews MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo/2.4GHz and 2.5GHz
Macworld's Jackie Dove reports:
The new MacBook Pro models Apple released last week might be classified as speed bumps, implying that the pro laptops' new enhancements constitute a minor, albeit noteworthy update.
However, these new MacBook Pros, a pair of 15-inch models and a 17-inch model, represent a fairly significant upgrade - both in terms of technology and performance - over their predecessors, which were released 8 months ago. Debuting Intel's 45 nanometer Penryn processor (a new generation of speedier chips that top the 65-nanometer Merom chips powering the earlier models), the new 2.5GHz MacBook Pros achieved the best scores of any laptop in Macworld's Speedmark 5 benchmark tests.
For the full review visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/132407/2008/03/macbookprocore2duo.html
Penryn iMac and Mac mini a few weeks away?
MacScoop's Alexandros Roussos says:
Apple is readying to release an improved version of both its iMac and Mac mini lineups by the next few weeks, sources indicated MacScoop.
The refresh will mainly bring Intel's 45nm Penryn chip accross the line for both the iMac and the Mac mini, MacScoop was told.
To read more, click here.
First Benchmarks for the new High-End MacBook Pro
HardMac's Lionel reports:
A report from François.
I just received my MacBook Pro 2.6GHz sporting a 200GB HD spinning at 7200rpm, and I quickly performed some benchmarks(QuickBench, XBench and CINEBENCH R10)
You can check it out at:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-03-07/#7919
Good design: Apple's Software Update, And Listening To A Ford F150 Truck
watchingapple.com says:
Good design accommodates the user. Any tool that "gets out of your way" or "becomes invisible" is simply accommodating your needs so that you remain focused on what you're doing, and not on the tool.
Example: A Ford F150 truck tries not to nag you about your seatbelt. When you neglect to fasten your seatbelt before driving away, you see on the dashboard a small illuminated image of a figure in a seatbelt and you hear a soft bell chime six times. The bell goes silent after the six chimes, and after 20 seconds the illuminated image disappears too....
The Ford F150 truck tries hard to accommodate you....
Apple understands this design philosophy. Just look at how hard Software Update works to accommodate you......
[Editor's note: This commentary goes on to outline concisely reasons why I detest Microsoft software and the whole Windows approach. CM]
For the full report click here.
How a MacBook Air Baffled Airport Security
TUAW's Dave Caolo reports:
Programmer Michael Nygard is used to travel. He's got the process down, from airport to hotel. Unfortunately, the TSA isn't as prepared.
While passing through airport security recently, he was pulled aside and made to sit in the holding area. He watched as a gaggle of TSA workers examined his things, especially his laptop ...
"'There's no drive,' one says. 'And no ports on the back. It has a couple of lines where the drive should be,' she continues...."
As you've probably guessed, Michael's MacBook Air had them all baffled......
For the full report visit here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/07/how-a-macbook-air-baffled-airport-security/
Travel tip for MacBook Air Users: Leave Extra Time For Airport Security
MacUser's David Dahlquist says:
Programmer Michael Nygard travels a lot—for business, you see. He's got his routine down to a science, from airport to hotel, and so he was surprised and dismayed to suddenly find himself in an airport security holding area while TSA agents cautiously inspected his suspicious laptop.
"'There's no drive,' one says. 'And no ports on the back. It has a couple of lines where the drive should be,' she continues…."
To read more, click here.
http://www.macuser.com/humor/travel_tip_for_macbook_air_use.php?lsrc=murss
Apple's Time Capsule Eases Backing Up Wirelessly
The Ledger reports:
With its new Leopard operating system, Apple tried to solve one of the most nagging problems faced by home-computer users: How to regularly back up their computers completely and painlessly. Leopard includes a feature called Time Machine that automatically and continuously backs up a Macintosh computer's entire hard disk, without requiring the user to do any tedious setup or have any technical knowledge.
Time Machine is a key selling point for Leopard and the Mac. It is more complete, and yet simpler, than the built-in backup feature in Vista Home Premium, the most popular home version of Windows.
But Time Machine has a major drawback: It works much better on desktop Macs than on laptop models. That's because it's primarily designed to operate with backup hard drives you connect directly to the computer......
Now, Apple has attempted to fix the problem with an unusual new companion product called Time Capsule. This is a $299 stand-alone networked gadget that packs both a giant hard disk and a speedy Wi-Fi wireless router into one slender case. It just plugs into your existing home network, and any laptop within wireless range can connect to it. It can back up multiple computers.
For the full report visit here:
Buyer's Remorse: Trading Up a Week-old MacBook
Low End Mac's Frank Fox says:
Like I've said before, I'm a cheapskate. I was going to buy a MacBook and be happy with it.
I did, and I was.
I got a new 2.2 GHz MacBook. It was snappy. Everything opened quickly, the two-finger scrolling on the track pad was great, and the screen was bright. Granted, my last laptop was a 900 MHz G3 iBook, so of course this was going to feel a lot faster. On the other hand my main desktop computer is a 2.66 GHz Mac Pro. It's no slouch, but the laptop feels every bit as fast for opening a folder or signing onto the Web.
Since I hadn't had a laptop for months now, it did feel a little heavy having to cart it around. Overall, I was excited and happy with my purchase.
Then, after installing my other software and updating Leopard and all the iLife software, Apple suddenly released new models for both the MacBook and the MacBook Pro lines. It hadn't been even a week, and I was suddenly using last year's model.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/ed/fox/08ff/macbook-buyer-remorse.html
How To Make The Most Of Your Mac's Mouse
Mac360's Kate MacKenzie says:
If there is anything ultimately common to Mac and Windows PC users, it's the mouse (or, trackpad for notebook users). Love 'em or hate 'em, we use 'em.
Most of us have a mouse (even many notebook users), and most iMac users these days go for the Apple variety, the Mighty Mouse. How do you make a mouse better? Mousepose' and SteerMouse.
To read more, click here.
Beatles Songs To Go Online? Not So, Says Apple (Corps)
The Guardian says:
The Evening Standard splash (as journalists call it; front-page lead as most other folks do) today is "MACCA'S £200m iTUNES PAYDAY" which is remarkable for two things: first, they bothered to put the 'i' of iTunes into lower-case; second, that according to the spokesperson for Apple Corps, which still retains publishing rights to the Beatles' back catalogue, its suggestion that the songs will go online later this year is wrong.
To read more, click here.
Yahoo's New Appeal to Women
BusinessWeek's Jon Fine reports:
Given how the media world has changed in recent years, it's fitting that what's essentially the next major women's magazine will come courtesy of Yahoo!
Against the turbulent backdrop of Microsoft's bid to buy the Web portal and reports of its own maneuvers to find alternate deal partners, Yahoo is quietly putting the finishing touches on a major new content site aimed at women between the ages of 25 and 54. Much like a general-interest women's magazine, the site will focus on familiar content categories: fashion and beauty, entertainment, health, astrology, home, food, parenting, relationships, and work and money. It's not yet clear what the site will be called, but one name in contention is Shine.
For the full report click here.
Apple Hammers Competing Computer Hardware Manufacturers In January Visits
internetretailer.com reports:
Apple continues to dominate traffic rankings among computer hardware sites in January, attracting 50.19 million unique visitors, 15% more than January 2007 and more than double the 19.38 million visitors to Hewlett-Packard's site. Microsoft's Xbox site registered the fastest growth in the category, up 58% year over year.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=25641
BBC iPlayer beta Released For iPhone and iPod Touch
With BBC iPlayer you can catch up with the programmes from the past seven days you've missed or want to watch again free of charge by playing them direct on the BBC iPlayer website or downloading them to your computer. As long as you are in the UK and connected to the internet you can:
• Find programmes you want to catch up on or watch again from the past seven days and watch them on the website through a method known as streaming.
• Download and store them on your computer for up to 30 days if you have a Windows PC.
• Play back high quality programmes on your computer as often as you like during the time that the programme is available.
For more information, visit:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
How To Burn a DVD on Your Mac
Apple first sold all of us on the digital music revolution using the slogan "Rip, Mix, Burn." Indeed, thanks to Apple software, it was suddenly dead simple to copy and burn music CDs using your Mac. But what about video DVDs? It turns out there are a few hoops to jump through, but in the end, it's pretty easy, even though you may need to invest in some additional software.
For the full tutorial:
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Burn_a_DVD_on_Your_Mac
Pentagon Bans Google From Making Maps On Bases
The Associated Press reports:
Citing security risks, the Pentagon banned Google teams from making detailed street-level video maps of U.S. military bases after images of a Texas base ended up on the popular Internet site.
A message sent to all Defense Department bases and installations around the country late last week told officials not to allow the mapping website to take panoramic views inside the facilities. Google said taking such pictures is against its policy and that the incident was a mistake.
For the full report click here.
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