Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Wednesday, January 23, 2008
MacBook Air: What Do You Do When There's No WiFi?
Apple Cripples Sun's Open Source Jewel - Hollywood Love Inspires DTrace Bomb
Towards a Partnership between Swatch and Apple?
Leopard: Take three - what we can expect in Mac OS X 10.5.2
More Mac Malware Attacks Expected
NBC opens door to iTunes
2008 Awards: The Absolute Best in Small Business - MacBook Pro and iPhone Winners
Installing a Penryn in an iMac Alu... Side Effect
Is Apple's New MacBook Air The 21st Century Cube?
Why the MacBook Air Was No Big Deal
The Macbook Air Is Growing On Me - What About You?
The Future of the MacBook Air and What it Will Become
Why Jobs Always Wears that Signature Suit
Apple quarterly profits soar to record 1.58 billion dollars
Record iPhone, Mac sales boost Apple's earnings
Apple Earnings To Take Spotlight After Market Close
Record Apple Revenue Fails To Impress Wall Street
Mac Night Owl: Apple's Best Quarter Ever?
MacBook Air: What Do You Do When There's No WiFi?
Low End Mac's John Hatchett (bless him) compares the MacBook Air to.... an eight year old Pismo......
I thought that I might as well contribute my thoughts on the MacBook Air now that the reality distortion field has dissipated. Steve Jobs has rolled the rice again and bet the farm on wireless connectivity.
Do you remember all the disappointment when the first iMacs came out? No floppy drives! Shock! Horror! Jobs had looked into his crystal ball and decided that the floppy drive was a technological dead end. And you know, he was right.
With the MacBook Air, Steverino has pulled a Great Karnack and believes that wireless is the way to go. Need to install software? As long as you have a wireless network around, no problemo. Talk to other computers - it's all through the air.....
MacBook Air vs. Pismo
Let's just compare the MacBook Air to, oh, what about an 8-year-old Pismo (PowerBook G3 2000 [FireWire]). The MacBook is the latest in computer tech. The Pismo is the Pismo.
Let's just take a gander at the back of the ol' Pismo. One of the first things you're going to see is a phone jack. The Pismo has a internal modem..... If you're not in a wireless environment. (Like when you're visiting my 82-year-old father. who didn't buy a color TV when they came out because "you don't need color, you can imagine it"......
The phone jack also allows you use the fax software in Tiger to send and receive faxes. If you are in a motel room with just a phone line, you can still connect and interact with the world.....
The Pismo has two FireWire ports versus none for the MBA....
I know that the MacBook Air has a USB 2.0 port, and you can boot with USB in Leopard, but what about attaching a FireWire digital camera or video camera?...
Next, the Pismo has an ethernet port....
The Pismo has two USB ports. Yes, they are USB 1.1, but since the Pismo has a PC Card slot, you can put in USB 2.0 or FireWire 800... The MacBook has a sad single port.
....the Pismo has a mini jack for an external microphone.
The Pismo is uncommonly versatile, but the MacBook Air is a limited laptop that will function only in a wireless environment...
[ Editor's note: AS a consummate Pismo fan, it also occurs to me that for my actual computing needs, the Pismo is a far superior machine to the MacBook Air. I'm typing this on a Pismo right now....
CM]For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.lowendmac.com/myturn/0801my/macbook-air-without-wifi.html
Apple Cripples Sun's Open Source Jewel - Hollywood Love Inspires DTrace Bomb
The Register's Ashlee Vance reports:
It was all hookers and balloons at Sun Microsystems when the company first found out that Apple would pick up its well-regarded DTrace analysis tool for use with Mac OS X. Now, however, one of the lead DTrace developers has expressed some regrets after Apple "broke" his software in an apparent bid to protect big media and ISVs..
Adam Leventhal went full and frontal this week with his assault on Apple and iTunes. The Sun software engineer lobbed a bog , accusing Apple of tweaking his precious DTrace to the point of destruction. Full of code snippets and talk of tick-1s probes, Leventhal's complaint lives in the land of the developer to be sure, although it would seem to have some broader implications about how far Apple will go to protect Hollywood chums.
Leventhal, along with a couple of co-workers/drinking buddies, developed DTrace for Sun's Solaris operating system. The software tool can dig into a running server to discover a very wide variety of performance characteristics. The tool proves so effective at fixing software issues that customers have opted to purchase Sun gear just to get their hands on the code, according to company legend.
These days anyone can pick up DTrace if they've got the courage and port the code to their operating system of choice, since Sun has open sourced Solaris in all its glory. Apple took Sun up on the offer with Leopard - grrrr - the latest version of Mac OS X
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/22/sun_apple_dtrace/
Towards a Partnership between Swatch and Apple?
HardMac's Lionel says:
One of our readers reported that Apple engineers recently visited Swatch in Switzerland. Some might have thought it was related to internet timing invented by Swatch. Yves found additional information which could provide more details about a potential collaboration between both companies.....
So, is it the first sign of an Pod-Swatch, providing music and more...
More information from:
http://www.tsr.ch/tsr
Another option could be linked the car market, as Apple seems interested, and Swatch has been involved with Mercedes in developing the Smart [forTwo car].....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-01-22/#7637
Leopard: Take three - what we can expect in Mac OS X 10.5.2
ITWire's Stephen Withers says:
Details of what we can expect in Mac OS X 10.5.2 are gradually filtering out.
Build 9C16, released to developers last week, addresses issues in a veritable laundry list of components from AirPort to X11.
If you want to see just how long the list is, MacScoop has collated the fix lists from this and previous builds.
So if you have run into a bug in Leopard, it seems there is a better than usual chance that it'll be fixed in 10.5.2.
What's more, rumour sites such as BabyGotMac are suggesting we will see some functional improvements when the update is released.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/16226/1151/
More Mac Malware Attacks Expected
itbusiness.ca's Matt Hines says:
As Apple continues to grow its worldwide market share and the company's products find their way into more business environments, attackers are certain to follow and create greater volumes of exploits aimed at vulnerabilities in the company's software, security experts contend.
According to industry analyst firm Gartner, Apple shipped just over 1 million Mac OS X-based computers during the fourth quarter of 2007, a gain of 227,000 over the fourth quarter of 2006. The analyst firm reported that Apple's U.S. market share for 2007 jumped by 28 percent compared to 2006, rising to just over 6 percent.
And with Apple CEO Steve Jobs stating at last week's Macworld Expo and Conference that the company has already sold 4 million iPhones and 5 million copies of Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5), its latest OS, since launching the products last year, the company's prospects look stronger than ever. However, malware researchers and industry analysts warn that as the sheer number of Apple end-point devices in use worldwide rise, so will the security concerns tied to the company's products.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/news.asp?id=46795
NBC opens door to iTunes
PCPro reports:
NBC Universal has hinted that it want to bury the hatchet with Apple and return to the iTunes Store.
Jeff Zucker, chief executive of the US broadcaster, is said to have "patched up" up his differences with Apple, which hinged on Apple's refusal to rise prices for popular NBC shows.
"We've said all along that we admire Apple, that we want to be in business with Apple," Zucker said before adding that he's a great fan of Apple boss Steve Jobs.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/news/158331/nbc-opens-door-to-itunes-return.html
2008 Awards: The Absolute Best in Small Business - MacBook Pro and iPhone Winners
SmallBusinessComputing.com Staff reports:
The Hollywood writer's strike may have shut down the Golden Globes and could even cause Oscar to stay in for the night, but we're happy to report that we're rolling out the virtual red carpet for the 2008 Small Business Computing Excellence in Technology awards right on schedule.
Hardware
Notebook PC
MacBook Pro (15-inch screen)
Not satisfied with last year's runner-up position, the MacBook Pro (with a 15-inch screen) emphatically shot to the top with 53 percent of the vote and snatched first place away from the PC crowd. This marks the first time that Apple has won a category in our awards. It's easy enough to understand; an unbeatably sleek design, Windows-capable Intel Core 2 Duo processor and an energy-efficient, LED back-lit display add up to a versatile travel companion.
Mobile Device
Apple iPhone
There's been a whole lot of hoopla about the iPhone ever since its debut, and although it wasn't designed with business in mind, our readers liked it enough to give it the number one spot by a hefty 47 percent. The fact that companies like WebEx are designing business-related applications for it is just the beginning of what's to come.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3723026
Installing a Penryn in an iMac Alu... Side Effect
HardMac's Lionel says:
Hexus decided to disassemble an iMac Alu to replace the original Core 2 Duo Merom by the new high-end Penryn X7900 clocked at 2.8GHz.
If the installation was not an issue, the surprise came later on when checking the CPU and its performance: the FSB as well as the CPU are down clocked at 400MHz!...
With some luck, everything will be fixed when Mac OS X 10.5.2 will be released....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-01-22/#7635
Is Apple's New MacBook Air The 21st Century Cube?
Mac360's Kate MacKenzie says:
Remember the Alamo? Remember the Titanic? Remember the Cube? All were disasters.
Apple's elegant but over priced work of art, the Cube, may be the only blemish on Apple's 21st century record. Until now. Will people remember the MacBook Air?
This morning I read a CNET blog that said, rather straightforwardly, 'The MacBook Air is the Cube 2.0.' Harsh words considering not too many people have their hands on Apple's skinny notebook.
For switchers and those of us from Mac past, Apple's Cube was a beautiful computer circa 2000 or so. It came with a PowerPC G4 encased in luxuriously chic clear plastic.
As Macs go, it was a big flop. Under powered, under configured, over designed, and over priced. The $1,799 price tag was not too far from a PowerMac G4 which came with oodles of expansion capability.
[Editor's Note: It was a really nice computer, though. I had one and liked it, although in the end I swapped it for a Pismo PowerBook, which I'm still using, this very moment in fact... Also, for those who would protest that the Cube (introduced in 2000) was the 21st Century Cube, actually, since there was no "year zero", 2000 was the hundredth year of the 20th Century - pedantically speaking.... CM]
To read more, click here.
Why the MacBook Air Was No Big Deal
The Guardian's Charles Arthur says:
Three things of note happened last week. Apple announced its MacBook Air, "the world's thinnest notebook computer" - though as someone pointed out on the BBC Technology blog discussion about this, was there a news item about the previous thinnest notebook?; Oracle said it would buy BEA Systems, a maker of "middleware", for $8.5bn; and Sun Microsystems said it would buy MySQL, the company that produces the eponymous, free, open-source database, for $1bn.
The question is, which of these is the most important to you, the slightly above-average reader?
It's not the MacBook Air. While this is a lovely looking beast, and does have some interesting implications - not least that your future life will feature fewer wires - it's not a game-changer, for a number of reasons. First, at £1,200 for the basic model, it's quite pricey. This is clearly up at the "necessary luxury" end of the market: people who buy it will already have another computer, but this will be their lightweight travelling companion.
(It's interesting that Intel shrank the chip die by 60%, but it's a 65-nanometre product, not 45nm as the very newest Intel chips are. As George Ou at ZDNet points out, that's probably because the design had to be finalised some months ago, before Intel could be sure its 45nm designs would work. Which implies that faster MacBook Air models won't be so hard to implement.)
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/21/sun.mysql?gusrc=rss&feed=global
The Macbook Air Is Growing On Me - What About You?
Apple Gazette's Michael says:
The Macbook Air is growing on me the more I look at it. I can see where it could fit into the life of a person that travels alot - or someone who very much wants a notebook and desktop experience.
My primary computer is my Macbook Pro. I've gotten used to only having one machine - and having that machine be a notebook. In fact, I haven't spent much time on a desktop machine at all - that is, until Macworld. I found myself often times in the media room using the provided iMacs because their was no hassle getting connected to the wi-fi in the room.
Now, several days removed from those iMacs - I find myself wanting one very badly, and really missing the experience of using a desktop machine. How does that lead me back to the Macbook Air?....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.applegazette.com/opinion/the-macbook-air-is-growing-on-me-what-about-you/
The Future of the MacBook Air and What it Will Become
AppleMatters' Sebastien Gomez says:
Everyone agrees (or almost everyone) that the Macbook Air is an astonishing machine but it lacks something. Not a superdrive or ethernet connection, but obviously a better price. The thinnest notebook in the world is now the most expensive piece of metal in the world and will only attract the most addicted of Mac fans....
The Macbook Air is a gorgeous machine, that's for sure. It's fast for the size and so incredibly portable, but it lacks marketability only because of its price tag. $1799 is way too expensive to compete with what the present Macbook can offer. Apple wanted to make the ultimate computer for the "on the go" individual. In my opinion, they have failed and will realize that very soon. If only for the price....
This is only the first step in a slew of upcoming products that will use the new softwares and technology that Apple has come out with. Air is the new black and that is an understatement; the more I can detach my life from all wires, the better.....
To read more, click here.
Why Jobs Always Wears that Signature Suit
PBCentral's Joe Leo says:
On this day back in 1984, the Macintosh was announced during Super Bowl XVIII making it the first-ever personal computing machine to include a device called a "mouse" that allowed you to control items on the screen. While the question over who invented the mouse, Apple or Xerox (or someone else entirely), ensues, a better question yet?
Why does Steve Jobs always wear the same outfit--blue jeans and a black mock turtleneck--at every big Apple product release/announcement, namely, Macworld?....
To quote Ken Bastida, anchor of the CBS5 Eyewitness News, the CBS owned-and-operated TV station in the San Francisco Bay Area, "You'd think a guy who once sold multi-colored computers would also add a little to his wardrobe, at least, once in awhile."
To read more, click here.
Apple quarterly profits soar to record 1.58 billion dollars
Yahoo! News reports:
(AFP) - Apple Inc. reported Tuesday its best quarter ever as its profits soared to 1.58 billion dollars in the last three months of 2007 on strong demand for its Macintosh computers, iPhones and iPods
"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.
Apple's profits of 1.76 dollars per share topped those from the same quarter in 2006 by more than 50 percent.
For the full report click here.
Record iPhone, Mac sales boost Apple's earnings
InfoWorld's Agam Shah reports:
Apple recorded net revenue for its first fiscal quarter, ended Dec. 29, of $9.6 billion, a 35 percent year-over-year increase, beating estimates of $9.47 billion from analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
The company posted quarterly net profit of $1.58 billion, an increase from the $1 billion net profit from the year-earlier quarter. The company recorded earnings of $1.76 per share.
Unit shipments of the iPod were 22.1 million units, a 5 percent growth over the year-earlier period. Apple sold 2.3 million iPhones during the quarter, a sequential increase from the 1.12 million iPhones it shipped in its fourth fiscal quarter. Apple shipped 2.3 million Macintosh computers, a 44 percent growth from the year-earlier quarter.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20080122/tc_infoworld/94762_1
Apple Earnings To Take Spotlight After Market Close
MarketWatch's Rex Crum reports:
Apple Inc. will take some of the spotlight off of a wild trading session Tuesday when the Macintosh and iPod maker is scheduled to give its first-quarter earnings report.
Apple shares fell as much as 8% in early trading,
but reclaimed most of their losses as the day progressed in a session highlighted by reaction to the Federal Reserve cutting the U.S. discount and overnight lending rates by three-quarter's of a percentage point in an attempt to stave of a recession.
For the full report click here.
Record Apple Revenue Fails To Impress Wall Street
InformationWeek's Thomas Claburn reports:
Amid worries about a global economic slowdown, Apple stock plummeted in after-hours trading despite record quarterly earnings that exceeded conservative guidance figures. As of 5:35 pm EST on Tuesday, Apple's stock was down 13.10% from its 157.45 close.
Apple on Tuesday reported revenue of $9.6 billion and net quarterly profit of $1.58 billion, or $1.76 per diluted share. Analysts had expected something more along the lines of $9.46 billion.
"We're thrilled to report our best quarter ever, with the highest revenue and earnings in Apple's history," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, in a statement. "We have an incredibly strong new product pipeline for 2008, starting with MacBook Air, Mac Pro and iTunes Movie Rentals in the first two weeks."
For the full report click here.
Mac Night Owl: Apple's Best Quarter Ever?
I know Wall Street dwells on negatives these days, particularly because of economic troubles in the U.S. Indeed, Apple’s stock tanked in after-hours trading after its quarterly financials were released Tuesday afternoon. But there are an awful lot of good things to talk about, even if investors don’t see it that way.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://macnightowl.com/2008/01/22/apples-best-quarter-ever-but-the-sky-is-falling/
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http://www.macnightowl.com/rss
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