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Taiwanese blog claims photos of Apple's next-gen 13-inch MacBooks
Purported 13-Inch Aluminum MacBook Case Photos Leaked?
The Trouble With USB 'Smart' Flash Drives
Apple: Who will inherit Steve Job's job?
The Apple Mac Cost Misconception : Macs and Their Prices
Nvidia Denies Exiting Chipset Business
Apple Launches Middle East Online Education Store
Mac Clone Maker's Lawyer Hints At Antitrust Defense
The Mac Night Owl: The Leopard Report: My Personal Petty Mac Annoyances
Worldwide Chip Sales Up 5.4 Percent in First Half of 2008 - June Sales Up 8 Percent Year-on-Year
Taiwanese blog claims photos oalf of 2008 - June Sales Up 8 Percent Year-on-Year
f Apple's next-gen 13-inch MacBooks
AppleInsider reports:
A Chinese-language blog responsible for leaking photographs of a genuine next-generation Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro casing has posted a similar set of photos purported to be that of the company's upcoming aluminum 13-inch MacBooks.the photo was indeed authentic.
The four photos (below) published by Apple.pro show a hollow 13-inch aluminum notebook display casing with the word "MacBook" imprinted on the bezel.
Last month, the same blog published a single photo showing the empty shell of what was said to be Apple's next-gen MacBook Pro enclosure. People familiar with the upcoming notebooks later confirmed to AppleInsider that the enclosure in
[Editor's note: However, AppleInsider cautions that this latest batch of alleged spy photos, unlike the earlier ones, appear to have been doctored somewhat, so should be taken with a proverbial grian of salt.]
For the full report (with photos) visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6eefjm
Purported 13-Inch Aluminum MacBook Case Photos Leaked?
Electronista says:
Photos have surfaced of what is likely to be the casing for an all-aluminum 13-inch MacBook through a leak from Taiwan site Apple.pro. Coming from the same source as a MacBook Pro casing earlier in the year that has since been corroborated by outside sources, the leak shows what appears to be the lid for the new system and would confirm both the switch from plastic to metal as well as the rumored tapered edges that are reminiscent of the MacBook Air.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/08/04/13in.alu.macbook.case.leak/
The Trouble With USB 'Smart' Flash Drives
Writing for Macworld, Ted Landau says:
The next generation of USB flash drives are her e- or so the ads claim. Actually, the drives arrived a year or so ago. They are called U3 Smart drives and they offer some admittedly nifty features. The problem is these features are only relevant if you are running Windows. Even worse, they pose a major nuisance if you are running Mac OS X.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/134811/2008/08/usbdrives.html
Apple: Who will inherit Steve Job's job?
The Economist has posted a speculative piece on the Jobs succession at Apple, noting:
Jobs is arguably unique in the extent to which his identity and fate are intertwined with those of his company. Imagining Apple without Steve Jobs, or Jobs without Apple, is difficult -- as his exile from the company between 1985 and 1997 made plain.....
So who might succeed him? Tim Bajarin, an analyst who has followed Apple for decades, thinks that Jobs has bred such a strong culture within Apple that there is "nobody on the outside who could even come close" to taking the reins successfully.
He also believes that Jobs has recently groomed "the strongest team he's ever had," making it even more likely that the next boss will come from this group.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/915/story/262809.html
The Apple Mac Cost Misconception : Macs and Their Prices
Tom's Hardware's Tuan Nguyen says:
After my first article on Macs and OS X, there were several readers who just down right bashed Macs for pricing and OS X without solid reasoning or legitimate hand's on experience of Macs. So this is a follow-up.
Let's get straight to the point. Tom's Hardware isn't about being a "PC fanboy." It's about finding the best hardware, revealing up and coming tech and debunking predetermined notions. That begs the question, especially here: what's so special about a Mac anyway?
Here's the short answer: nothing really, just some very elegant aluminum chassis designs. The key, is the operating system. Even still, let's settle this issue about price.
In a recent comment, someone came up with an analogy that a Mac isn't really a BMW, but rather a Hyundai dressed up in a nice exterior. One problem: Hyundai's don't have nice European car exteriors. And to generalize it this way shows the lack of willing to understand the core of the Mac: its operating system. Because that's really what it's about....
...you can always buy a cheaper car to get you from A to B. Instead, let's see what you can get for $2000, from Apple and from others. For $2000, do you really get much less?
Let's take a quick look at some of Apple's competition and their pricing structure compared to Apple's...
[Editor's note: the results may be an eye-opener for some]
You can check it out at:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,review-31192.html
Nvidia Denies Exiting Chipset Business
DIGITIMES Michael McManus reports:
Nvidia has released an official statement refuting the recent Digitimes story claiming that the company is planning to quit its chipset business. Michael Jong, senior director of corporate marketing for Nvidia indicated that Nvidia has no intention of getting out of the chipset business and that the report is completely groundless.
Jong stated that Nvidia's MCP business is as strong as it ever has been for both AMD and Intel platforms, and pointed out that Mercury Research reported Nvidia's market share on AMD platforms was 60% last quarter.... Nvidia is looking forward to bringing new and very exciting MCP products to the market for both AMD and Intel platforms, Jong stated.....
For the full report click here.
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080804VL201.html
Apple Launches Middle East Online Education Store
RedOrbit reports:
Apple's representative for the Middle East, Arab Business Machine Ltd (ABM), announced the launch of its online education store accessible on shop.appleme.ae. In addition to a 5 percent discount being offered to students and teachers, ABM is offering a 10 percent discount for those signed up to the Apple On-Campus program. This program offers students, teachers, administrators and staff members special pricing on the full range of Apple computers, plus select third-party products. Education customers can also claim their discounts in retail shops across the Middle East by showing their university ID.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6kuyr6
Mac Clone Maker's Lawyer Hints At Antitrust Defense
Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports:
One of the attorneys hired by Psystar Corp. to defend it in a copyright- and trademark-infringement lawsuit brought by Apple Inc. hinted that the clone maker will bring up antitrust issues if the case goes to trial.
Colby Springer, one of the three lawyers from the Palo Alto, Calif., firm of Carr & Ferrell LLP who will represent Psystar, wouldn't go into details about legal strategies but spoke in general terms about the case during an interview on Thursday.
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/5gwsjm
The Mac Night Owl: The Leopard Report: My Personal Petty Mac Annoyances
After four maintenance updates, with many more on the way over Leopard's expected lifecycle — and I am not counting security fixes — it's a sure thing that the worst ills are behind us. Typical of most Apple software these days, the original version was somewhat shaky, betraying evidence of a rushed release.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://tinyurl.com/6qbhxu
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
Worldwide Chip Sales Up 5.4 Percent in First Half of 2008 - June Sales Up 8 Percent Year-on-Year
[ Press Release]
Global sales of semiconductors for the first half of 2008 grew to $127.5 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent over the first half of 2007 when sales were $121 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today. June sales of $21.6 billion were up by 8 percent from the $20 billion reported for June 2007. June sales increased by 0.5 percent from May, when sales were $21.5 billion. Second-quarter sales of $64.7 billion increased by 3 percent over first-quarter sales of $62.8 billion. Thus far increased energy costs have had little impact on demand for electronic products that drive semiconductor demand.
"Continuing strength in international markets coupled with healthy demand in the U.S. - helped drive higher worldwide sales of semiconductors in June," said SIA President George Scalise. "Key demand drivers for semiconductors especially personal computers, which account for 40 percent of semiconductor sales, and mobile phones, which drive about 20 percent of demand continued to show double-digit unit growth. JPMorgan recently revised upward its forecast for unit sales of personal computers to 13 percent, with sharp increases in sales of portable systems. Forecasts for unit sales growth of mobile handsets range from 10 to 12 percent for 2008.
"Emerging markets are a major factor in driving worldwide semiconductor sales," Scalise continued. "PC unit sales in emerging markets are expected to grow by 19 percent more than double the growth rate in developed markets this year. In 2008, developing countries with sales of over 153 million units - will account for half of worldwide PC sales. In mobile phones developing countries are expected to account for 66 percent of total worldwide unit sales of over 1.3 billion, up from 61 percent last year. The emergence of large middle-class populations in China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America has more than offset the effects of slower growth in the U.S. economy. We expect that demand for consumer electronic products in these new markets will continue to outpace growth in developed markets for the next several years."
"Inventory for the industry is in balance with minor excess in a few product sectors," Scalise noted.
SIA noted that total semiconductor sales in June, excluding memory products, grew by 12 percent year-on-year. Price attrition in memory products contributed to a 6 percent year-on-year decline in total memory sales despite sharply increased unit sales.
"Advances in semiconductor technology continue to deliver huge benefits to consumers, as semiconductor devices deliver higher performance and increased functionality at lower cost," said Scalise. "At the same time, rapid price declines for microchips tend to mask the real growth of the industry. The cost of 1 gigabit of DRAM has declined by 43 percent during the past year, while the price of 2 gigabits of NAND flash has declined by 61 percent in the last 12 months. Lower prices enable increased memory content in consumer devices. Micron estimates that the memory content of the average PC will increase at least 50 percent this year, while the memory content in the average cell phone will increase by more than 150 percent."
Scalise noted that during the past 10 years, the price of a typical desktop PC has declined by nearly two-thirds while performance and functionality have increased by a factor of more than a hundred. "The impact of advanced technology on energy efficiency is even more dramatic," Scalise said. "A recent independent study showed that computers have become nearly 3 million percent more energy-efficient over the past 30 years," Scalise concluded.
More information about the SIA can be found at:
http://www.sia-online.org
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď
