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Bryan Chaffin

Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.

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CTO of Infoworld Embraces PowerBook, Can't Quite Ditch ThinkPad

Chad Dickerson, the CTO of Inforworld, has been spent the last year managing his magazine’s IT infrastructure from a PowerBook. In an article for his magazine, he says that he has embraced his PowerBook, though he can’t quite ditch his IBM ThinkPad. While he has been able to use Mac OS X to work in…

Australian IT: Windows Desktop Stranglehold Slipping

David Frith has penned an editorial for Australian IT that rounds up all the recent trends away from Windows and towards the Mac. From those trends, he concludes that Windows security issues and the strength of Apple’s iPod has put a chink in the armor of the Windows dominance of the computing world. From the…

Apple Hot Deals Update For J&R

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for J&R at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get, at least in…

From the Editor - Walt Mossberg: Not A Macaholic

On Thursday morning, we covered Walt Mossberg’s latest column for the Wall Street Journal, which included positive comments about the Mac platform, and the iMac G5 in particular. In the TMO Spin for that piece, I made a joke about Mr. Mossberg being a Macaholic. Mr. Mossberg wrote to me last night to explain that…

BusinessWeek Report: "Apple Is Looking Juicier"

Peter Burrows of BusinessWeek reports today that "Apple is looking juicier." According to the article, Apple is poised for growth, the iPod halo-affect is finally kicking in, and the iMac G5 could be a driver for increased market share. These factors could give Apple a significant boost in terms of revenue, profits, and the company’s…

BusinessWeek Digs Into Apple/Beatles Lawsuit

BusinessWeek’s Alex Salkever has dug into the Apple Corps. vs. Apple Computer lawsuit, and his research says that a huge victory and large settlement for The Beatles is unlikely. He bases some of his opinion on language from the two entities’ previous agreement from the early 1990s, and in part on analysis of that language…

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Ships for Mac

A spyr Media has announced that Tom Clancyis Splinter Cell is shipping for Mac OS X. Tom Clancyis Splinter Cell is part of the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six first person shooter (FPS) franchise, but this game is a 3rd person "steal action game." The title was originally released for Windows in 2002, and this release…

Apple Launches PowerBook "White Spot" Repair Program

A pple has launched a repair program for PowerBooks with "white spot" problems. The problem occurs in what Apple says is a "limited number" of PowerBooks that have white spots that show up on their displays. The program is called the "15-inch PowerBook G4 Display Repair Extension Program," and it allows users afflicted with this…

Apple Hot Deals Update For B&H, MacZone

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for B&H Photo-Video and MacZone at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get,…

Top Five Most Popular Computers At Amazon Are Macs

A pple is burning up the charts at Amazon. Observer EveTommy noted in the forums that the Top 5 most popular computers at the online retailing giant were all Macintoshes, with the Top 3 being the not-yet shipping iMac G5. Additionally, nine of the Top 20 most popular computers are also Macs. The current Top…

Euro Study Finds Windows Crash 8% of the Time

A study of some 1,285,500 computers in almost one thousand companies across 7 European countries (France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, England, Italy) found that Windows PCs crashed around 8% per session. In other words, in European businesses, Windows PCs crash almost one out of every 12 times they are turned on. The study was undertaken…

Yahoo! Buys Musicmatch To Bolster Online Music Offerings

T he competition arrayed against Apple in the growing online music market is shifting. In a deal valued at US$160 million, Yahoo! announced today the acquisition of one-time Apple partner Musicmatch. Musicmatch makes its self-titled Musicmatch jukebox software that allows Windows users to manage their digital music collections, the same software Apple licensed for its…

Jupiter Research: iPod/iTunes Combo an Advantage for Apple

The Guardian (UK) has published an article looking at the battle between Apple and everyone else in the online music download business. The article particularly focuses on Microsoft’s new Windows Media Player 10 software, which among other things allows Windows users to take their rented music with them on portable media players. The article quotes…

Apple Updates Hot Deals, Adds Office Depot, Tech Depot

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for AudioMIDI at the Macintosh Product Guide. Apple has also added Office Depot and Tech Depot to the Hot Deals listings. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features…

Forbes/NewMediaZero Call Windows Media Open, iTunes Closed

Forbes’ online arm has published an article from a UK online site called NewMediaZero. That article touts “the relatively open nature” of Windows Media 10, which “stands in stark contrast” to Apple’s closed and proprietary iTunes. The article also quotes a broadband content provider who compares the coming platform war between Microsoft and Apple to…

iTunes Offers Republican Speeches, RNC Promotes iPod

J ust as with the Democratic National Convention last month, Apple is offering free downloads of speeches from the Republican National Convention (RNC) through the iTunes Music Store. For its part, the RNCis Web site is promoting not only the iTunes Music Store, but iPods for people who might be interested in listening to speeches…

Apple Reminds Microsoft Who's #1 With 125 Million Downloads

I n response to the official launch of Microsoftis MSN Music service this morning, Apple has taken the opportunity to remind people whois on top of the music download business. The company issued a statement obtained by The Mac Observer that says the score so far in this business is 125 million downloads for Apple…

David Coursey (Mostly) Positive On New iMac G5

David Coursey has weighed in with his opinions on Apple’s new iMac G5. Mr. Coursey is a one-time critic of the Mac who Switched back to the platform two years ago. In his newest column at eWeek, Mr. Coursey offers a mostly positive view of the new iMac, though he also has a couple of…

Children's PressLine Uses iPods To Score Political Interviews

While its impact on culture is well known and oft touted, Apple’s iPod is having an effect even on politics, according to a children’s journalist group called the Children’s PressLine (CPL). With its roots in another organization called Children’s Express, the CPL has covered every Democratic and Republican national conventions since 1976. When two CPL…

Forbes: New Sony Walkman Can't Break iPod's Stride

Sony’s “iPod Killer,” the Walkman Network HD-1, has come out on the losing end of another comparison to the iPod. In an article titled, “New Sony Walkman Can’t Break iPod’s Stride,” Forbes reviewer Mark Hazlin says that the Walkman would have been more impressive had it come out two years ago, but as it is,…

Apple Posts New iPod Ad, Steriogram's "Walkie Talkie Man"

A pple has posted a new iPod ad. The ad features the music of Steriogram with a song called "Walkie Talkie Man," which comes from the groupis Schmack CD. The ad posted on Appleis Web site clocks in at two minutes, and features yet another style of dancing. The commercial was shot following the same…

Apple Expo Begins Tonight, TMO to Cover Keynote

[ Update: Apple had the commercial WiFi network we scouted out in the Apple Expo facilities turned off for the keynote. We are posting short blurbs as they are phoned in by staff on-hand for the event. We will also be posting stories and images of any new Apple products as quickly as possible. Additionally,…