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  • REVENGE

    This Week in Mac-related News

    By REVENGE, in OSx86,

    Here are some noteworthy news items from this week:
     
    - Sources have disclosed that Apple's iPhone will use Marvell's XScale processors, which is the next evolution of the line of ARM processors originally designed by Intel, who recently sold the marchitecture to Marvell Technologies. For those who are unfamiliar with this marchitecture, the PXA2XX generation XScale processors are used in almost all PocketPC type PDAs on the market. However, if Apple is using Marvell's newly released offerings, the iPhone will likely be powered by a PXA3XX generation chip, which clocks up to 1.25 GHz @ 1000 MIPS. In addition, the iPhone will be using Intel designed flash memory similar or identical to what is found in the current generation of iPod Nanos.
     
    - Screenshots of the latest build of Apple's OS X 10.5 Leopard has just been leaked by Gizmodo. For those of you who are not running the developers' builds already, don't expect anything revolutionary to be revealed.
     
    - It has been confirmed now that Apple will indeed charge extra for their BootCamp feature when it's officially released with Leopard. Cost is $29, a small price to pay to conform the the Windows running masses. BootCamp will allow the new Windows Vista to run properly in dual-boot configuration with OS X.
     
    - And finally, Steve Jobs has been under investigation these past few weeks over concerns that he allegedly withheld information regarding improperly backdated options [7.5 million in fact], and took a rather long period of time to report the problem... long enough, it seems , to make the Feds uncomfortable... (Seriously. Who can live on a salary of $1 a year?)
  • sHARD>>
    Here's your bombshell of the day: "this spring, Parallels will upgrade its software further, in a way that by coincidence will make it easier to run Mac OS on a non-Apple computer." While impressive, it doesn't sound that great on paper does it? David Kirkpatrick of Fortune doesn't seem to agree... he titled the following article "Windows is coming to the Mac - and Mac to PCs". Sure sounds optimistic, is there something he's not telling us? I don't know, but full OS X virtualization would be killer.
     
    Read on...
  • kevin_4e
    Let us begin with iSlayer's iStat Pro, the most complete system monitoring widget around. All nine panes are fully customizable along with 10 different skins to make the perfect match for your Dashboard... It's not too difficult to understand why SuperDuper! has been acclaimed to be the simplest and easiest way for a recovery. Its free Universal download is fully capable of making fully bootable backups along with a built in automatic scheduler... Uh-oh, looks like the newly opened Twenty Ninth Street Apple Store may be in for a bit of a loss. During the past month, one greedy iPod-fiend was able to make out with 42 new iPod nanos undetected. The total damage resulted in approximately US$8,705... Looking for a couple of ways to have the most creative use of a Mac Mini? Here are five irreplaceable Mac Mini mods to give you a few ideas... It seems as though we're seeing more iPod interfaces on Nintendo products than Apple products. Introducing the GameBoyPod...
     
    Let's play a game, "Take One, Leave One"... Looking for a different style of searching the web? Try PageBull's visual style of searching... And finally, "Microsoft, Wake Up and Smell Defeat." It seems apparent what player Chris Ferguson seems to like...
  • Colonel
    It seems that Apple has seeded two new builds of its next version of Mac OS X, Leopard, to developers: Build 9A343 for clients and build 9A344 for servers. The builds are available to Apple Developer Connection Select and Premier members. Apple gives us the following description on the build:


    Known Issues:
    - Installing and running localized languages is not recommended at this time
    - MacBuddy may not run after installation. Rebooting will launch MacBuddy
    - Using the 'Open' command may cause longer opening times
    - NFS mounted files cannot be accessed
    - iSync's plug-in maker requires CFBundleIdentifiers to be unique per plugin to avoid corruption when multiple plug-ins are installed
    - Heavy paging may result in zeros being written to the address space
    - User cannot copy text from applications launched via SSH
    - Disconnecting from your network while connected to servers may hang your machine
    - Syncing calendars through iSync does not work at this time
    - A system panic may occur with ATI cards while running QuickTime Player with iChat and Preview
    - 'Add Printer' dialog appears behind frontmost windows
    - QuickLook's full screen mode may not quit in certain situations
    - Unable to restore from Time Machine backups created in MacBuddy
    - Application Launch Restrictions in Parental Controls not being enforced at this time
    - User cannot install the Adobe Suite
    - Cannot enable accounts for Windows Sharing
    - Finder may quit in certain situations when using the Cmd-Tab keys
    - Terminal: Ctrl-Space does not send any data to the shell which may cause issues with the mark in Emacs
    - Terminal: Performance with millions of lines of text is currently limited
    - Upgrades from the WWDC Developer Seed are not supported
    - Upgrades from previous releases are not recommended
     
    Changes in Leopard Since 9A321
    - HIToolbox provides new HIRect/Point/Shape-based Window Manager API for resolution independence compatibility
     
    Terminal:
    Settings are now stored in Terminal "Profiles" rather than .term files. There are two ways old .term settings are migrated to the new Terminal:
    - Automatic import of default .term file and terminal settings at the first launch
    - Importing of arbitrary .term files other than your default one
    After migrating settings a new Terminal window will open and you should save the window settings as new profiles using Shell->Save Profile
     
    - Tab support
    - Terminal now lets you save a multi-window configurations through workspaces which are available through the "Terminal" menu.
     
    QuickLook
    - QuickLook APIs have been updated
    - quicklookd can be used to test your QuickLook generators. Use "quicklookd -h" to see the list of options.
     
    Thanks to Adrian Fogge for letting us know in this thread.
  • Colonel

    Apple Special Event in February

    By Colonel, in OSx86,

    It looks like when Steve Jobs said "See you soon" at the end of his annual MacWorld keynote, he meant it literally. Rumors have been floating around that an Apple Special Event will take place late next month or in early March. The Special Event is supposedly going to reveal the "Top Secret" features of Leopard and also introduce the new iLife 07. Apple is also expected to announce the official launch date of Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard. LoopRumors has the scoop.


    LoopRumors is hearing rumblings that Apple is preparing a Special Event that should take place in February or early March. The most likely purpose of the event is to showcase the remaining 'Top Secret' features of Mac OS X (Leopard), and announce an official launch date. Besides the introduction of Leopard, Apple may also introduce some new rumored devices such as displays, a true widescreen iPod, new Macs, and a replacement to the iSight camera.
     
    Looks like it's time to get out the Stevenote bingo cards.
  • Colonel

    MacFUSE 0.1 Released

    By Colonel, in OSx86,

    For months now, many of use have been happily running Mac OS X along side of Windows on our Intel Macs. But we've always face the problem with Mac OS X not being able to write over to our Windows drive. Well, just a few days ago Amit Singh of Mac OS X Internals and current Google employee have found a way to solve this problem. MacFUSE's Google Code site gives us more in depth details.


    "MacFUSE implements a mechanism that makes it possible to implement a fully functional file system in a user-space program on Mac OS X (10.4 and above). It aims to be API-compliant with the FUSE (Filesystem in USErspace) mechanism that originated on Linux. Therefore, many existing FUSE file systems become readily usable on Mac OS X. The core of MacFUSE is in a dynamically loadable kernel extension.
     
    How FUSE-compliant is MacFUSE? Well, enough so that many popular FUSE file systems can be easily compiled and work on Mac OS X--often out of the box. Examples of file systems that work have been tested (to varying degrees) include sshfs, ntfs-3g (read/write NTFS), ftpfs (read/write FTP), wdfs (WebDAV), cryptofs, encfs, bindfs, unionfs, beaglefs (yes, including the entire Beagle paraphernalia), and so on." A dream come true for dual booters everywhere, has finally become a reality.
  • kevin_4e
    Now that Apple has confirmed their new Mac systems are shipping with 802.11n capabilities, when do we get to take advantage of it? Currently, all of Apple’s Core 2 Duo products (except 17-inch 1.83GHz iMac and Mac Mini) plus the Mac Pro include the 802.11n wireless technology, but why does it appear hidden?
     
    Apple has now come forth explaining their plans to offer an "AirPort Extreme 802.11n Enabler 1.0.” It is expected to come next month alongside with the release of their upgraded version of the AirPort Extreme wireless base station which will automatically enable it the 802.11n technologies.
     
    For those who do not plan on upgrading to the new AirPort Extreme base station, and would prefer to continue to use their own third party wireless device, a US$5 fee comes along with the download of the 802.11n enabler patch.
     
    Any reasoning behind the small fee is still unclear but legal matters is what is most likely the case.


    "Because of the Act, the company believes that if it sells a product, then later adds a feature to that product, it can be held liable for improper accounting if it recognizes revenue from the product at the time of sale, given that it hasn’t finished delivering the product at that point.”
    More information can be found at AppleInsider’s 802.11n Enabler Patch story.
     
    Please make sure and share any comments or thoughts of Apple’s 802.11n enabler patch or fee.
  • kevin_4e
    If you're a frequent user of the free online storage site, Box.net, another free alternative is out there too. DropBoks uses a similar concept and allows files as large as 50mb, as compared to Box's 10mb. It may be a little less eye catching than Box.net but it's still worth a try... Acclaimed as the best Mac OS X application ever, Quicksilver is something every Mac owner should have. Fully capable of "launching applications, manipulating files and data, running scripts or sending e-mail" in a few clicks keypresses, this is something to make everyone's computing life easier... As Apple TV (and iPhone most likely) becomes one more of the Apple products avoiding the Apple educational discounts, are they in fact fading away? Although carbon fiber seems to appear most commonly on cars, never doubt that you'll see it on a computer... Uh-oh, looks like the iPod has undergone some extreme mutations. At least it's a
    ... 
    Hurry, hurry! Get your own iPhone today before it's gone... If you're familiar with the very popular Flickr, you know that there's an endless amount of photos waiting to be viewed. It's more or less the YouTube of photos. Change the way you view Flickr with Airtight's "Tag Browser..." And finally, take Craig Ferguson's word for why Apple's iPod/iPhone dominates the Zune. I guess the iPhone doesn't "zuck".
  • REVENGE
    Apple's Steve Jobs has made it clear in an interview with the New York Times that Apple and its partners will be the sole architects of every aspect of the device's applications, "from ringtones to word processors" as the Times put it.
     
    Jobs declared:


    “We define everything that is on the phone. You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”
    So what is the mentality behind this puzzling decision? Well supposedly, it is for "quality assurance" purposes designed to ensure your iPhone works properly without interference from all those untrustworthy third party developers out there. Of course, as Jobs reiterated: “That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment.” Control, that is the key, and the question is, to what extent does Jobs think he can control our digital lifestyle before consumers reject his close-minded vision of what people's digital experience should be? Not that I'm suggesting anyone jump to immediate conclusions before the product has even been released on the market, but as the Times observed, this carries a certain resemblance to the Jobs vision of the Mac back in 1984, which turned out to be unsuccessful to say the least...
     
    Overall this past week, admist all the initial wonder and excitement created by the sweet news of the iPhone announcement, the fine print and complications which have subsequently come to light leave a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of would-be consumers. Aside from the device's hefty price tag, the iron chain binding it to Cingular's clasp, and the exasperating name dispute between Apple and Cisco-Linksys, this unexpected new restriction could develop into the restraint that cripples what seems like a nearly limitless platform. Fortunately, there is still the comforting possibility of hacking the device and porting Linux to it, though I suspect that the user experience would certainly be a far cry from the elegantly designed OS X derivative the iPhone will officially run.
     
    Software designer and friend of Steve Jobs Michael Hawley says “Apple is in a unique position to build a winning personal device that really fulfills the missing promise here." The biggest question is not if Apple is capable of fullfilling that missing promise, but of whether or not they've realized what that missing promise should embody...
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