Moore’s Tech Web Reader - Monday, April 30, 2007
Apple Says Some Notebooks May Have Battery Issues
Intel to Sell Mac Pro Motherboard?
Mac OS X vs Windows Vista Elizabethan Duel
Samsung and Apple in talks about NAND Flash Purchase, Say Sources
Schools Ban iPod Cheaters
Apple TV Hackers Called To Create Open Source Set-top
Shareholders Want a Greener Apple
Google Desktop 5 Speaks 29 Languages
More iPhone Details Emerge From Internal AT&T Document
Floppy Drives Come Back To Mac
IT Confidential: 10 Indications Apple Is Headed For A Fall
When It's Time For Purge, Do A Smart Purge
PC Mag: Adobe CS3: What You Get
PC Mag: Time for Microsoft to Start Worrying
The Tech Night Owl Newsletter: Do You Really Want to Rent Music? | The Tech Night Owl: I'll Take My DNS Open | This Week's Tech Night Owl Radio Update
Apple Says Some Notebooks May Have Battery Issues
Reuters reports:
Apple Inc. said on Friday some batteries in its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers may have performance problems, but they do not pose a safety risk.
Apple said problems with affected batteries include not charging when the computer is plugged into an outlet.
"The issues are not a safety risk, so consumers can continue using their batteries," the company said in a statement.
The affected batteries are in MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks sold worldwide from February 2006 and April 2007, Apple said.
Apple said it has issued a software update designed to improve battery performance.
For the full report visit here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070427/tc_nm/apple_batteries_dc
For more information, visit:
http://www.apple.com/support/macbook_macbookpro/batteryupdate/
and
http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n305256
Intel to Sell Mac Pro Motherboard?
Hardmac's Lionel reports:
Both The Inquirer and HotHardware published a short test of Intel V8, the prototype of a new motherboard. When looking at the specification, the dual socket supports Quad Core Xeon 5365 (Clovertown), the 1333MHz Greencreek FSB chipset and 8 FB-DIMM memory slots.
In other words, this motherboard looks almost like the one found in current Mac Pro models. We will list below the small modifications brought by Apple:
- For improving cooling, Apple installed FB-DIMM modules on daughter cards
- Among 6 SATA ports, 4 are being used for the specific HD enclosure via a proprietary connector
- Apple did not keep the 2 PCI-X slots found on the V8 kit
- location of the Airport and BT modules
For the full report visit here:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2007-04-27/#6701
Mac OS X vs Windows Vista Elizabethan Duel
Digital Living says:
What better way to end the age-old OS X vs Vista debate than to set the two up for a traditional Elizabethan duel? Prepare yourselves for one of the bloodiest battles your eyes hath e'er seen...
What is the meaning of life? Is there a God? Why is belly button fluff always blue? These questions have led to wars, famine and sleepless nights for millennia, but there's one with even greater importance -- which is better, Mac OS X or Windows Vista?
It's the question that won't go away, and no matter how many times the arguments are rehearsed, there never seems to be a proper resolution. The rows recently stepped up a gear with Apple adding fuel to the argument with its new advertising campaign, while Microsoft has applied liberal amounts of 'Wow' to its new Vista OS.
The debate needs to end. It's time for a definitive answer. We've decided to settle the question once and for all in the fairest way possible - with an Elizabethan-style duel.
Our 'actors' have assumed the roles of each operating system. Baron Vista is played by the big, brash fellow in the orange garb and Count OS X by the well-moisturised man in black.
Their task is to win the hand of the fair Maiden Mainstream, played as in olden times by the hairy bloke in the dress. They'll be trying to woo 'her' by completing a series of old-world challenges. The outcomes are determined by how good each OS' security, performance and usability aspects are.
Is OS X trendier, easier and safer than the competition? Or is Vista the new king of the hill? Which one gets the chick? The battle lines have been drawn, gloves have been slapped across faces - it's time for a smackdown, Shakespeare style.
You can check it out at:
http://digitalliving.cnet.co.uk/specials/0,39030785,49289872,00.htm
Samsung and Apple in talks about NAND Flash Purchase, Say Sources
DIGITIMES' Josephine Lien and Carrie Yu report:
Samsung Electronics and Apple have been in talks recently at Samsung's headquarters in South Korea for the purchase of a volume of NAND flash, with the chips to be purchased covering those to be used in all iPods and iPhones from June to year-end 2007, according to sources.
Apple is asking for 400-500 million 4Gbit NAND flash equivalent chips from Samsung, the sources said. Since the volume requested by Apple is 10-15% more than what the two parties agreed earlier...
For the full report visit here:
http://www.digitimes.com/bits_chips/a20070426PD220.html
Schools Ban iPod Cheaters
The Register's John Oates reports:
A school in Meridian, Idaho is banning students from taking iPods into exams because two kids were overheard discussing how to use them to cheat.
iPods, or other MP3 players, can, in theory, be loaded with recordings of possible exam answers or written notes can be included as lyric files. Kids at some Californian schools have already been caught with incriminating notes on their music players.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/27/ipod_cheats/
Apple TV Hackers Called To Create Open Source Set-top
The Register's Tony Smith reports:
Neuros Technology has called on Apple TV hackers to join it and develop a next-generation open source set-top box to prevent IPTV falling into the hands of the Man.
Neuros launched its Linux-based OSD last autumn. It's a media centre that can digitise video content to connected storage - either a locally fitted USB drive or memory card; via the unit's LAN port to a networked computer or NAS box; or to an iPod, PSP or other portable media player.
Like other Neuros hardware, the OSD is largley based on open source software - though some elements, thanks to the need to use third-party components, remain closed - and the company encourages its customers to hack the code and share their work with other owners. The upshot, it reckons, is improved functionality and support for more digital content formats.
Which is, of course, one reason why so many folk are hacking Apple's Apple TV, for example adding new codecs to allow the $299 'Mac Nano' to play DivX files.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/04/27/neuros_reaches_to_apple_tv_hackers/
Shareholders Want a Greener Apple
eWeek's Scott Ferguson reports:
A group of investors is looking for Apple to be a little greener.
In a letter sent to fellow shareholders April 26, Shelley Alpern, vice president of Trillium Asset Management, in Boston, is urging Apple to adopt greener policies in the manufacturing of its Macintosh line and other products.
"Apple has been at the forefront of many technology trends, not the least of which has been the very notion of getting people to 'think different,'" Alpern wrote in the letter, which is on file with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"Yet one place where the management has failed to lead is on the issue of toxic chemicals in our products," Alpern wrote. "The proposal simply asks the management to assess the feasibility of new policies to eliminate the worst of the toxic chemicals—those that may threaten workers, the public and the environment."
For the full report visit here:
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2123150,00.asp
Google Desktop 5 Speaks 29 Languages
IDG News Service's Peter Sayer says:
Google Inc. took a step closer on Thursday to being able to search everything: its desktop search application is now available in 29 languages, including Hindi, the company announced.
Seven weeks after launching the English-language version of Google Desktop 5, the company localized the software in 29 languages, including French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Russian - and Hindi, the first time a version of the application has been offered in that language.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131296-c,google/article.html
More iPhone Details Emerge From Internal AT&T Document
Ars Technica's Jeff Smykil reports:
For over a year and a half, I have been liberated from the device that ties many of you down: the cell phone. I have no regrets related to ditching the overpriced service. If I need to make a phone call that badly, I find a phone. Due to this, I haven't been that tempted by the iPhone, but regardless I still find all of the talk fairly interesting.
A new bit of iPhone information comes from Engadget Mobile, and it is the internal Q&A for AT&T employees. There isn't a whole heck of a lot to look at, but there are some details that some readers might be interested in....
For the full report click here.
Floppy Drives Come Back To Mac
PC Pro's Nik Rawlinson reports:
Lindy claims that it is the easiest way to add support for floppy disks, which disappeared in the tail end of the last century with the launch of the iMac. At the time, Apple's decision to drop non-optical removable storage from its line-up was treated with scepticism, but as capacities have increased, many other manufacturers have followed suit.
However, this has left many Mac users with no way to access their old files.....
The Lindy USB Floppy Drive costs Ł29.99, and compatibility stretches back to Mac OS 8.6.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/news/111633/floppy-drives-come-back-to-mac.html
IT Confidential: 10 Indications Apple Is Headed For A Fall
InformationWeek's John Soat says:
The indications are there: iPhone anxiety, a Steve Jobs impersonator, a backdating scandal that won't go away--and I just bought an iMac.
It's list time! The list is a journalist's best friend - easy to write and very popular online. So I tossed around a few ideas: 10 Google Searches I Wish I Could Take Back, or 10 Soon-To-Be Incarcerated Software Execs. But since I haven't written about Apple recently, and there's no hotter company right now, I decided on that. Here are my 10 Indications That Apple Is Headed For A Fall.
For the full commentary click here.
When It's Time For Purge, Do A Smart Purge
The Seattle Times' Jeff Carlson says:
T
here comes a time when you just don't need two unused laptops stacked on top of a Power Mac, sitting next to an old iMac that contains no hard drive.
Last year, I wrote about doing some data housecleaning by tossing unused files and applications (Practical Mac, Nov. 4). But now, perhaps because I need Indiana Jones to excavate my office so I can find anything, it's time for me to purge hardware.
For Mac users, this is difficult. We tend to grow attached to our Macs. For example, my PowerBook G4 Titanium isn't just a laptop, it's a 1-inch-thin piece of industrial design art (one of its brethren is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, in fact).
Mostly, though, the PowerBook still works. It runs Mac OS X, albeit more slowly on its 400 MHz processor, but it works. We're accustomed to repurposing old Macs in different ways: as a "kitchen Mac" used for storing recipes or looking them up online; as a server that coordinates backups over the home network; as an answering machine using software such as Parliant's PhoneValet Message Center ( http://www.parliant.com ); and more.
Despite that, the PowerBook remained shut, because I didn't really need any of those other options. And since I primarily work on a MacBook Pro, my beefy Power Mac G5 was shamefully underutilized. To be honest, the money I could make from selling the G5 would help offset the cost of the new MacBook Pro. It was time for a purge — a smart purge.
For the full commentary click here.
PC Mag: Adobe CS3: What You Get
Which bundle is right for you? We break down some of their key new tools, suite by suite.
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2122706,00.asp
PC Mag: Time for Microsoft to Start Worrying
Redmond so far has dismissed the threat to Microsoft Office from Google's Web-based apps. The company does so at its own peril.
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2122687,00.asp
The Tech Night Owl Newsletter: Do You Really Want to Rent Music?
When Apple announced, during its session with financial analysts, that it would apportion
income from the iPhone and Apple TV on a subscription basis, some folks started wondering whether they were planning on adding a subscription service to iTunes.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2007/04/30/newsletter-387-preview-do-you-really-want-to-rent-music/
Notes: You can also access our new RSS newsletter feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/rss
Or our new Atom newsletter feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/ newsletter/atom
The Tech Night Owl: I'll Take My DNS Open
To most of you, the initials DNS are probably meaningless, an arcane Internet acronym that doesn1t concern you the least bit.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/2007/04/30/newsletter-issue-387/#open
Notes: You can also access our new RSS newsletter feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/rss
Or our new Atom newsletter feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/atom
This Week's Tech Night Owl Radio Update
It's surely been a busy week on The Tech Night Owl LIVE in light of Apple1s report about stellar earnings this past quarter.
Here's the URL for this week's update on the show:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/2007/04/30/newsletter-issue-387/#update
Notes: You can also access our new RSS newsletter feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/rss
Or our Atom newsletter feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/newsletter/ atom
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Charles W. Moore
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