Applelinks.com Moore’s Tech Web Reader - Friday, November 23, 2007

Moore’s Tech Web Reader - Friday, November 23, 2007

By Charles W. Moore Friday, November 23, 2007.
Filed under: News � Tech-Industry �

2335

Internet Slowdown On Horizon, Study Claims
MacBU's Black Friday Crazy Eddie Deal
PeachMac’s First-Ever Clearance Sale
Mac Share Climbs, iPhone Dominates US Smartphone Sales Laptop Sales Shoot North Driving Mac Marketshare...
Leopard Out, Tiger Back In
iLife '06: Why Can't the PC Do This?
Perfecting perfection: Mac OSX Leopard, part 1
Silicon Image 3132 eSATA ExpressCard Goes to War with Leopard
Apple's Leopard Gobbles Up Batteries, Users Complain
Leopard's Leap Forward
Apple Volkswagen
Burst.com & Apple Sign Agreement in Principle to Settle Case
ExtremeTech: How AMD/ATI Can Turn the Tide
eWeek: Apple Mail Security Flaw Reborn in Leopard
eWeek: Is the Internet Governable?
eWeek: Securing the Laptop: Mission Impossible?
The Mac Night Owl: So What About an Apple HDTV

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Internet Slowdown On Horizon, Study Claims

CTV.ca News reports:

A study claims that Internet performance could start to decline by 2010 due to a growing gap between access capacity and demand.

Nemertes Research estimates that up to US$55 billion needs to be spent to close that gap, or about 60 per cent to 70 per cent more than service providers intend to spend.

"The primary impact of the lack of investment will be to throttle innovation both the technical innovation that leads to increasingly newer and better applications, and the business innovation that relies on those technical innovations and applications to generate value," said the report released Tuesday.

"The next Google, YouTube, or Amazon might not arise, not because of a lack of demand, but due to an inability to fulfill that demand. Rather like osteoporosis, the underinvestment in infrastructure will painlessly and invisibly leach competitiveness out of the economy."

To read more, click here.

MacBU's Black Friday Crazy Eddie Deal

Microsoft Warch's Joe Wilcox says:

These prices are insane!

For Black Friday (aka, the day after US Thanksgiving), Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit will offer a one-day special on Office 2008.

"Basically, you buy any version of Office 2004 and you get a $100 rebate," said Chris Swenson, NPD's director of software industry analysis. "For $6.99, when Office 2008 is released, Microsoft will send you Office 2008 Special Media Edition."

For the full report click here.

PeachMac’s First-Ever Clearance Sale

Starting today, Black Friday, PeachMac will be offering selected products at savings of up to 75%. Many items will be at 50% off and they are offering all iPod nano (2G) cases, iPod Shuffle and iPod Video cases for 30% off. The (2G) means that this deal applies only to 2nd generation nano cases, not the current model.

They also have a large selection of cases for MacBook and MacBook Pro at 50% off. An assortment of iPod speaker systems are also dramatically reduced, but they won’t last long.

The clearance sale will be ongoing as long as PeachMac still have clearance items to sell. Just look for the small white tags on various products around the store.

For more information, visit:
http://www.peachmac.com/blog/?p=32

Mac Share Climbs, iPhone Dominates US Smartphone Sales Laptop Sales Shoot North Driving Mac Marketshare...

Macworld UK's Jonny Evans reports:

Apple seems set to gain yet more market share on strength of continued increases in the company's laptop sales, a research company has claimed.

Citing a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times, DigiTimes reveals research from Taiwan's Topology Research which claims Apple will see volume sales climb 30 per cent year-on-year in 2008.

This is likely to translate into a one percentage point addition to Mac marketshare in 2008, the report indicates. It predicts 116 million laptops (from all vendors) will ship next year, up from 93 million units in 2007.

For the full report click here.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=19752

Leopard Out, Tiger Back In

The Register's Tony Smith says:

I just downgraded from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to the previous release, Tiger. I'd had enough of a recurring glitch that left me looking at the spinning Beach Ball of Death right after Finder starts loading. The only way out: force the computer to power-down.

.... I think it's an issue with Spotlight and possibly Time Machine.

Here's what happens: Leopard boots up, the desktop wallpaper appears, the Dock pops up, Finder loads and displays its menu bar, the Spotlight icon appears... and that's it. The fans start cranking up, so some code is clearly thrashing my MacBook Pro's Core Duo. The Spotlight icon pulses, suggesting its indexing my hard drive.

That's fine as it goes, but the problem is, it never returns control to the user. .....

I've cleaned out the external drive now - I hope - but I can't quite bring myself to upgrade to Leopard again. Maybe I'll wait until 10.5.2 comes out. Or maybe I'll just wait a few more years until I next upgrade my computer, and I've never said that about a Mac OS X update before.

For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/21/eb_leopard_downgrade/

iLife '06: Why Can't the PC Do This?

Connected Home Mag says:

Every year, Apple issues a new iLife upgrade, and every year, I stare in wonder at my Mac's monitor, noting the improvements and wondering why Microsoft and the PC industry can't create something as impressive as iLife for the Windows realm. Three years after the initial iLife release, iLife '06 is now available, and it's better than ever. Quite simply, there's nothing on the Windows side of the fence that approaches the quality of iLife '06.

To read more, click here.
http://www.connectedhomemag.com/HomeOffice/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=49259

Perfecting perfection: Mac OSX Leopard, part 1

InfoWorld's Tom Yager says:

No one is unhappy with Mac OS X Version 10.4, known as Tiger. OS X is not an application platform (I bristle at using the term "operating system" for OS X; I explain why below) that needed repair, speeding up, or exterior renovation. Motivations for major upgrades of competing system software - roll-ups of an unmanageable number of fixes, because the calendar says it's time, or because users are perceived to have version fatigue - don't apply to OS X. Apple wields no whip to force upgrades because Tiger stands no risk of being neglected by Apple or third-party developers as long as Leopard lives. Despite the absence of a stick that drives users into upgrades of competing OSes, or perhaps because of it, Apple enjoys an extraordinary rate of voluntary OS X upgrades among desktop and notebook users. Why? People buy Macs because the platform as a whole is perfect, full stop. Leopard is a rung above perfection. It's taken as rote that the Mac blows away PC users' expectations. Leopard blows away Mac users' expectations, and that's saying a great deal.

Apple's secret, which is no secret to Mac users, is that major OS X releases deliver tangible value far in excess of their asking price,...

For the full commentary visit here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20071121/tc_infoworld/93564_3

Silicon Image 3132 eSATA ExpressCard Goes to War with Leopard

PowerPage says:

As much as you may like Leopard, there are still some bugs to sort out. PowerPage head honcho Jason O'Grady chronicles the conflicts between Mac OS X 10.5 and Silicon Image's 3132 eSATA ExpressCard driver, complete with the details of the dramatic onslaught.

To read more, click here.

Apple's Leopard Gobbles Up Batteries, Users Complain

InformationWeek's Paul McDougall reports:

Mac users who've upgraded their laptops to Apple's new Leopard operating system are reporting a sharp drop off in battery life....

Some users speculate that the problem is related to the numerous new features that Leopard adds to their computers - including a souped-up graphical interface designed to make navigation easier.

For the full report click here.

Leopard's Leap Forward

Computerworld's Michael Gartenberg says:

Leopard has phenomenal usability and eye candy, but does any of this matter to IT? More and more, it does, now that getting Apple's software to work as part of an infrastructure is mostly a nonissue. Boot Camp, Apple's method for running Windows natively on Intelbased Macs, allows those who must use Windows applications to consider a Mac. Now, Boot Camp is integrated into the OS.

For the full report visit here:
http://www.macnewsworld.com/rsstory/60409.html

Apple Volkswagen

EuropeanCarsBlog says:

Because Apple writes a legend for every object that it creates, many voices consider that it is time for them to produce a car.

Steve Jobs, Apple Manager met with its homologue from Volkswagen, but it seems that after this first discussion will result only a Golf individualized with Apple gadgets.

Anyway… it's a good start!

For the full report visit here:
http://www.europeancarsblog.com/apple-volkswagen/

Burst.com & Apple Sign Agreement in Principle to Settle Case

[Press Release]

Burst.com announced today that it has signed an agreement in principle to settle its case against Apple, Inc. ending almost 2 years of litigation. Apple agreed to pay Burst a one-time payment of $10 million cash in exchange for a non-exclusive license to Burst's patent portfolio, not including one issued U.S. patent and 3 pending U.S. patent applications related to new DVR technology. Burst agreed not to sue Apple for any future infringement of the DVR patent and any patents that might issue from the pending DVR-related applications.

The $10 million patent license provides Apple with the right to use Burst's intellectual property in its own technology and products, without further consideration. Burst, however, retains the right to enforce its patent portfolio against others.

Burst plans to continue identifying and evaluating companies who represent licensing opportunities and intends to diligently pursue those likely to yield suitable returns. Burst does not plan to announce specific names of suspected infringing products or companies in advance of negotiating with them or filing litigation to enforce its patent rights. Burst does not plan to publicly release any internal assessments of market segment size or dollar value of those markets, although it believes that they are significant enough to warrant the aggressive pursuit of patent licensing.

Court costs, expenses and attorney's fees in connection with the settlement of the litigation with Apple will reduce proceeds to the Company to approximately $4.6 million. According to the agreement, payment to Burst is to be made promptly after signing of a definitive settlement agreement. Burst's Board of Directors has indicated that it will be considering a cash distribution to Burst's shareholders from the Apple license fee, in an amount to be determined.

The company will not be further publicly addressing issues or answering questions regarding subjects that the Company's Board of Directors has not yet adequately addressed or resolved, or regarding subject matter that the company's legal counsel has advised is either privileged in nature, or should not be discussed for strategic or other reasons. As the Board and management make further determinations regarding the matters discussed in this Release and other matters involving the Company's future operations, the Company may, at its discretion, make further announcements to all shareholders and will also post those announcements on the Company's web site.

This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements similar to those covered by the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We believe that the expectations expressed herein, regarding the new license of our technology with Apple, our use of the funds from this license, our intent to review possible further enforcement of our patents against other companies and our intent to develop and sustain new operations are based on reasonable assumptions. However, these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks and actual results and developments could differ materially from these expectations. Factors which could affect our operations and prospects include the costs and uncertainties of pursuing complicated litigation, the effect our license with Microsoft and Apple will have on other companies utilizing our technology and in our market and our ability to pursue new or additional operating strategies. We are not responsible for updating any such forward-looking statements.

Founded in 1988, burst.com has pioneered the development of Faster-Than-Real-Time� video and audio delivery. burst.com has built an international patent portfolio covering burst-mode video delivery, scheduling, rapid casting and network optimization, as well as DVR-related technology.

ExtremeTech: How AMD/ATI Can Turn the Tide

"Loyd recently wrote an editorial wondering if AMD is not long for this world. It comes on the heels of a trip I took to Lake Tahoe last week to test, under AMD's conditions, their new Phenom CPU and Spider platform. The long and short of it is this-Phenom is a disappointment, but the Spider platform stuff (mostly the work of the ATI division) is pretty darn nice.

The last year or two has been rough on AMD. In the Pentium 4 days, AMD's CPUs were just plain better designs. Intel's Core 2 architecture changed all that. They have a significant advantage in process technology also have a really good core design. How can AMD compete with that? Well, they have to out-engineer Intel again, and they have to efficiently execute it. The latter part is the problem.

ATI has had execution problems this past year. They were late to the DX10 party, and when they arrived, they weren't as fast as Nvidia. ATI's chips were hotter, louder. But the RV670 chip changes all that. They have their design and qualification process in check now (let's hope it stays that way). The shipping RV670 CPUs are small, cool, quiet, powerful, and the company managed to ship A11 silicon-no re-spins or design fixes necessary. If the CPU division of AMD had been able to do the same with Phenom, who knows what the competitive landscape would look like right now?"

Read more at:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2219803,00.asp

eWeek: Apple Mail Security Flaw Reborn in Leopard

Fixed in Tiger in 2006, the flaw finds its way back into the newest Apple OS, according to a security firm.

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2219737,00.asp?=kcEWKDT202007

eWeek: Is the Internet Governable?

Opinion: No, there's no Internet Governmental Organization based in Switzerland that can order anyone around. What authorities there are can only focus on the high-profile stuff. Mostly, it's every man for himself.

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2219851,00.asp?=kcEWKDT212007

eWeek: Securing the Laptop: Mission Impossible?

"Nearly every week, the report of a stolen laptop hits the news and, with it, a horror story of data loss, identity theft and corporate liability. With a downside that steep, it's no wonder that the laptop is the target of corporate IT security campaigns nationwide. Few corporate executives will sleep soundly until their IT managers have done all they can to lock down laptops and limit the sensitive data on them.

But that's easier said than done."

Read more at:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1%20759,2220394,00.asp?=kcEWKDT212007

The Mac Night Owl: So What About an Apple HDTV

In interviewing Macworld's Jason Snell for this week's special holiday episode of The Tech Night Owl LIVE, I heard some information that didn't surprise me. You see, many of you haven't had an easy ride hooking up your new flat-panel TV to get real high-definition programming.