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Motorola Chip Launch Paves Way For 1.5GHz PowerBook G4
Will Apple Bite On Motorola's New PowerPC Chip?
When Windows Won't Work, It's Time For A Mac
Is Apple Too Politically Correct?
Why Jobs Should Be Sent Offshore
Apple Software Restore: How To Install Or Reinstall Parts Without Erasing
Apple's Prospects Looking Up In South Africa
14 Inch G4 iBook Or 12 Inch PowerBook? Which One Is faster And Has Better Features?
iPod Battery - Care and Feeding
Thoth Software Dumps OS X Support
TIVO Survey
Breathing New Life Into an Old PowerBook
How to Do Everything With Mac OS X Panther (How to Do Everything) Released
ICEsoft's ICEbrowser Technology Used by NASA's Mars Rover Mission[/url]



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Motorola Chip Launch Paves Way For 1.5GHz PowerBook G4

The Register's Tony Smith reports:

"Motorola's chip division - soon to be spun off as Freescale Semiconductor - today updated its G4-class PowerPC processor, the MPC7447, taking the part to 1.5GHz and paving the way for one more PowerBook G4 update the line before its upgraded to IBM's 90nm G5 chip, the 970FX.

"The new Motorola part is dubbed the 7447A and adds on-the-fly clock frequency adjustment, allowing system makers to run at reduced frequencies according to workload. The upshot is longer battery life. And there's now a temperature-sensing diode included to monitor die temperature, Motorola says.

"At 1.42GHz, the chip consumes 20W of power, Motorola claims, which compares well to the 7447's 21.3W at 1.33GHz. The company also mentions a lower power version of the 7447A that consumes less than 9.3W at 1.167GHz, which seems no better than the old 7447's claimed 7.5W at 1GHz. The low-power 7447A has a core voltage of 1.1V; the regular 7447A runs at 1.3V."

"Essentially, the 7447A is a revised 7447, itself a low-power version of the 7457. The 130nm 7447 is currently used by Apple in its PowerBook G4. The iBook is based on the older 7455. The 7447 is a trimmed down version of the 7457, losing the latter's support for external L3 cache....'

For the full report, visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/35749.html





Will Apple Bite On Motorola's New PowerPC Chip?

CNET News.com's Ina Fried says:

"Motorola on Monday announced a faster PowerPC chip that could be used in speedier Apple Computer laptops.

"Motorola said it is now producing samples of a 1.42GHz PowerPC processor, a chip analysts say might soon find its way into the PowerBook, Apple's high-end laptop. Motorola said the chip has a typical power consumption of less than 20 watts, a level that makes it suitable for laptops. The chip also contains multimedia instructions that are required for chips that Apple bills as G4 processors.

"'It certainly would be a fit for a portable Mac,' Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron said. 'It's obviously up to Apple whether they would do that versus using an IBM (chip).'

"A Motorola representative declined to comment on whether Apple might be interested in the chip. In a press release, Motorola said the chip is designed for a wide range of uses, including in computing as well as embedded, noncomputer, tasks."

For the full report, visit here:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-5163527.html






When Windows Won't Work, It's Time For A Mac

AnchorDeskExecutive Editor David Coursey says:

"In my computing life, there's one constant: The Macs don't crash and the Windows machines do. I mention this because on Thursday I went to see my friend Rob (Enderle, the noted industry analyst) and took along my Fujitsu Tablet PC. I used it at Rob's house to take notes of our meeting.

"That Went well enough, but when I got home the machine had slowed to a crawl--and there it's stayed. Now XP is never a speed demon at boot time, but ten minutes to boot is ridiculous even by XP's standards. The computer works fine in Safe mode, but if I try to log on normally the Task List shows a process called "winlogin" taking 99 percent of processor time....

"Meanwhile, the Compaq Armada M700 that I've been nursing (with help from my friend Big Ernie) has relapsed: I crashed it loading some apps and have finally decided to give up....

"My HP Media Center crashed after Symantec SystemWorks 2004 first failed to install properly and then didn't allow itself to be uninstalled....

"SO I'M DOING what I always do when Windows ticks me off (that's not the word I really want to use, but this is a family AnchorDesk): I grab a Mac. Right now, I'm typing this column on a 15-inch PowerBook G4.

"The nice thing about Mac OS X is that it's darn near uncrashable. No matter what programs I install or uninstall or how I use it, OS X just runs....Sure, not all the programs I want to use run on Mac, but it's like I tell people: If a Mac does what you want to do, it's a much more stable OS than Windows."

The Mac; it just works!

For the full report, visit here:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/AnchorDesk/4520-7297_16-5122766.html?tag=adts

Is Apple Too Politically Correct?

So asks The MacNightOwl's Gene Steinberg.

"It's no secret about the political leanings of Steve Jobs. He is friend to both Clinton and Gore and, as we all know, the latter is a member of Apple's board.... While I can see where Apple might shirk the possibility of selling Macs to terrorists, it shouldn't make a difference whether customers are Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, straight, gay or any combination you might possibly imagine. A dollar is a dollar, unless the sale is made in foreign currency.

"By the same token, it shouldn't matter where Apple advertises its products, so long as the target audience is potentially receptive to the message. Yet consider this: Talk radio is heavily inhabited by conservative-oriented hosts. From Rush Limbaugh to Michael Savage, the chatter is distinctively right of center....

"...but when was the last time you heard an Apple Computer commercial on Rush Limbaugh's show, or the first time for that matter? First and foremost, Limbaugh is a devoted Mac user. He's said so often on his show, and has himself wondered whether Steve Jobs has put the kibosh on the possibility of buying ads. But how many talk show hosts favor Macs, or even mention computer platform preferences at all?"

"So surely, a show with an audience in the tens of millions, considered perhaps the largest in America, run by a fan of the product, should be a prime target for ads, right? Now maybe some of Limbaugh's luster has been tarnished by his recent addiction to pain killers, or the ongoing investigation into possible 'doctor shopping' in Florida. But it hasn't been shown yet that he has done anything illegal, so what's the reason, aside from his political viewpoint, that would make him anathema to Apple's ad dollars?"

"On the other hand, like him or hate him, you can't say that outrageous talk jockey Howard Stern is squeaky clean... Yes, Apple Computer does buy time on that program, despite or maybe because of the controversial nature of its host...."

Hmmmmmm. Looks like a possible double-standard at work to me. I've suggested in the past that Rush Limbaugh (I'm a fan, although I don't always agree with Rush) should have been one of Apple's "Think Different" poster boys. As Gene notes, Rush has been a voluble and consistent booster of the Mac platform for more than a decade. I know plenty of conservative-minded folks who use Macs, and there could be even more if Apple would get off its politically-correct high horse and solicit their business.

Off soapbox.

You can read Gene's essay here:
http://www.macnightowl.com/index.htm#correct





Why Jobs Should Be Sent Offshore

CNET News.com's Declan McCullagh says:

"The truth about outsourcing's effect on the American economy is not politically acceptable

"Economic reality frequently makes for poor politics.

"That's what N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, recently found out when he inadvisably spoke the truth: free trade is good for America....

"Mankiw was restating for the 21st century the economic law of comparative advantage, which essentially says that nations should play to their strengths. No serious economist would disagree. But Mankiw soon learned a lesson: better to cloak what you say in fuddy-duddy academic argot than to be clear and controversial."

Excellent and thoughtful article, especially with the neo-protectionist blather issuing from certain vectors these days.

You can check it out at:
http://comment.zdnet.co.uk/declanmccullagh/0,39020670,39147276,00.htm





Apple Software Restore: How To Install Or Reinstall Parts Without Erasing

A new Apple Knowlege Base article says:

"Apple Software Restore discs included with some computers don't offer an option to reinstall individual applications like iTunes or iMovie. When you use Apple Software Restore it first erases the hard disk, and then restores all the software.

"You can use these steps to reinstall parts without erasing the hard disk."

You can check it out at:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106451





Apple's Prospects Looking Up In South Africa

ITWeb Cape Town Correspondent Paul Vecchiatto reports:

" Apple seems to be determined to get its SA retail strategy right after failing to make inroads into the local market.

"However, an imaginative product line, a revamped retail and corporate sales strategy, coupled with the improved rand exchange rate, have helped the company to grow its South African revenues by 22% in 2003 and unit sales have risen by 18%.

"Ten years after re-entering the South African market, Apple still has less than 2% of the local R1 billion desktop market – a market share that is little better than the roughly 1% it had after being absent from the country for the eight years before 1994. This is even lower than Apple's worldwide market share average of about 3.5%.

"Apple's SA country manager Bruno Verolini says the company is beginning to benefit from an improved retail strategy after a number of rather disappointing relationships since 1994....

"Apple's retail strategy now focuses on its new online store and Apple Centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town....."

For the full report, visit here.
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/computing/2004/0402231012.asp





14 Inch G4 iBook Or 12 Inch PowerBook? Which One Is faster And Has Better Features?

MacReviewZone Buyer's Guide has posted a comparo of the 14 Inch G4/1GHz MHz iBook which has the Combo optical drive, to the 12 Inch G4/1 GHz PowerBook.

You can check it out here.





iPod Battery - Care and Feeding

PowerPage's Bob Snow has postes a mini-tutorial on iPod battery issues.

"There are a lot of battery issues floating around the iPod. Rather than lay blame, here is strategy for lengthening the service life of your iPod battery. Many of these suggestions apply to batteries in other devices as well."

You can check it out at:
http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/powerpage.woa/wa/story?newsID=11821





Thoth Software Dumps OS X Support

Thoth Software, developers of Thoth, Rosetta, and Ptah for OS X, have posted the following notice:

"Thoth received 40 updates with many new features and improvements. Rosetta and Ptah were similarly updated numerous times. All updates were free to existing customers. Sadly, publishing these programs is no longer practicable.

"Thoth, Rosetta, and Ptah can no longer be downloaded or purchased."

See:
http://www.thothsw.com/





TIVO Survey

"This survey is about potential features for TiVoToGo, an upcoming feature enhancement for the TiVo Series2 DVR. We would like to ask for your feedback on a variety of topics. Your feedback is invaluable to us and will help us develop the new product."

Among the questions is:

Which one of your computers would you MOST WANT to use, if you were to use TiVoToGo?
N/A -- I do not have any computers at home
PC w/Windows (specify operating system):
Macintosh (specify operating system):
Computer running Linux (specify flavor of Linux):
Other (specify type and operating system)

You can find the survey at:
http://research.tivo.com/togo/ttg.html




Breathing New Life Into an Old PowerBook

PowerBook Centrals' Noah Kravitz saya:

"Last November I wrote about the then-new line of iBook G4s and my newfound lust for upgrading. I even went so far as to put my trusty PowerBook on ebay to see what I could get for it: Had the high bid come in a few hundred dollars higher, I would have said a fond farewell to my TiBook and a grand hello to a faster and sturdier, if smaller, iBook. Alas, the market didn't bear out for me and I realized that 500 mhz of G4 power could certainly tide me over for another year or so.

"Of course last week I had to go and drop my PowerBook on the hardwood floor in my living room and the term "forced upgrade" almost became a new part of my vocabulary. The case cracked in two places (along the lighter grey plastic around the headphone jack and under the screen) but no internal damage was done. Maybe it was my TiBook's way of letting me know the iBook ain't so tough, after all.

"What I didn't spend on upgrading to a new computer I decided to put towards making my machine a little more useful...."

You can check it out at:
http://www.powerbookcentral.com/columns/kravitz/22feb04.shtml





How to Do Everything With Mac OS X Panther (How to Do Everything) Released

Kirk McElhearn 's How to Do Everything With Mac OS X Panther covers Mac OS X Panther and its bundled applications in detail, while handling more challenging topics such as networking, Internet security, wireless operation, and maintenance in an approachable way. Learn how to use the Finder, how to manage files, how to work with digital media, and much more.

Details
• Paperback: 512 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.07 x 9.14 x 7.35
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; (January 2004)
• ISBN: 007225355X

List Price:   $24.99
Price:   $17.49

You can check it out here.





ICEsoft's ICEbrowser Technology Used by NASA's Mars Rover Mission

ICEsoft Technologies Inc., a provider of Java browser and Java Web access software, today announced that ICEbrowser is being used with MERBoard, a Web-based collaborative mission tool developed by NASA Ames Research Center for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission.

NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, are exploring opposite sides of the Red Planet to search for evidence of past or present water and to map its geological and climate history. More than 240 scientists and engineers are working daily in shifts around the clock to analyze incoming and existing data and to build new science goals and plans for the rovers. Good communication is essential to the mission's success.

ICEbrowser allowed NASA to seamlessly incorporate an HTML rendering engine into its Web-based MERBoard, thereby supporting all its collaborative sites. ICEsoft's Java technology allows MERBoard to render across a range of heterogeneous operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS-X.

A combination of software and a five-foot touch screen, MERBoard assists science and operations teams during MER surface operations. The tool enables teams to retrieve, view, share and annotate mission data and rover images from anywhere at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's mission control, in real time. The board provides an immersive work environment while its touch screen literally puts information at the team members' fingertips. ICEbrowser is integrated into the MERBoard to provide mission teams with access to Web-based data sources and mission documentation.

"The recent Mars Rover missions are the culmination of years of planning and collaborative effort," said Stephen Maryka, chief technology officer, ICEsoft Technologies. "Advanced planning and data analysis are essential to mission success. Accurate and detailed imaging is crucial to NASA's scientists, so they can formulate meaningful conclusions about Mars."

For more information, visit:
http://www.icesoft.com



Charles W. Moore

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