MacPractice announced the immediate availability on Monday of their all Mac interface to PLANMECA Panoramic and Cephalometric digital X-ray equipment and PLANMECA digital sensors via Ethernet. “MacPractice DR is the first fully integrated, digital radiography solution for Mac users, and now it works directly with some of the finest products available to dentists from PLANMECA”…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
BW: Apple Backs into Enterprise Amidst Vista Open Revolt
Since Steve Jobs returned to Apple, Apple has catered to the individual purchaser, people who appreciate what they get for their money. Big business has been a distant second priority. These days, however, several factors have come together to make Macs acceptable in the enterprise: the iPhone, the coolness of Macs, and Microsoftis misstep with…
Returning to U.S. with a Computer Poses Risks for Private Data
A recent ruling by a U.S. Court allows border patrol agents to inspect and search a notebook computer or other digital device without limitation, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Travelers cannot be forced to divulge the password for encrypted disks, but the computer can still be seized. Travelers and their employers are increasingly…
ChangeWave Looks at what BlackBerry and iPhone Customers Love Most
Previously, ChangeWave looked at the customer satisfaction levels of RIM’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone. They saw an evolving two horse race in the U.S. smartphone market. Now, ChangeWave has looked at what customers of the two phones love most about them. “The previous report showed excellent consumer satisfaction levels for the two smart phone frontrunners…
Apple Posts Java Update 1 for Leopard
Late on Tuesday, Apple posted a Leopard only Java for Mac OS X Update 1. The update adds Java SE 1.6.0_05 to the system. “This Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 1 adds Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_05 to your Mac. This update does not replace the existing installation of J2SE 5.0 or change…
Apple Posts Common Criteria Tools for Leopard
Apple has posted its Common Criteria Tools for Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard. Heretofore, the tools worked on on Mac OS X 10.4, Tiger. The Common Criteria Tools allow an organization to evaluate whether a Mac system meets the security criteria theyive established for a system and audit operations on the computer. “By providing an…
Parallels: Desktop Product Sales Have Surpassed One Millon
On Thursday, Parallels announced that its Parallels Desktop application for Macs has sold more than one million copies to date. The software was the first product that allows users of Intel Macs to run Windows, Linux, Solaris, and other operating systems simultaneously with Mac OS X. “Parallels Desktop not only broke down the barrier between…
Why the Apple TV Doesn't Make Toast
“You know, our next big step is we want it to make toast.” – Steve Jobs (2004, referring to iPods) I have written a lot about the Apple TV. Iive written about updates, Iive pointed to stories and reviews, and Iive discussed the compression issues related to getting HD content into the customeris Apple TV…
Deferred Revenue for Apple TV and iPhone Climbs Dramatically
Appleis FY08 Q2 earnings report on Wednesday showed that deferred revenue, the so-called subscription accounting, for Apple TV and iPhone is rising dramatically. In September, 2007 Apple reported US$1.391B in deferred revenue, current, for the Apple TV and iPhone. For the current Q2, that has risen to US$2.416B, a 74 percent increase. In September, 2007…
LockedEnvelope Allows Easy, Encrypted E-mail
Navoty has announced the immediate availability of LockedEnvelope in beta. The system allows users of any e-mail application with any e-mail service on any OS to send an encrypted message to anyone with a simple pass phrase. Creating encrypted e-mail is not extremely difficult. However, when it comes to making everything work with all your…
IW: "No Macs" in Enterprise no Longer Defensible
The legacy mantra of many IT managers of “no Macs” in their organization is no longer a defensible IT strategy, according to Galen Gruman, executive Editor of InfoWorld on Monday. The change is happening for many reasons, in addition to the fact that employees are demanding them. Primarily, the confluence of some important computing trends…
Apple Modifies Windows Software Updater After Safari Ruckus
In March, it was noticed by Windows users that Apple was using the Apple Software Update program that installs with iTunes to promote the installation of Safari as well. That confused some users and drew criticism for being a deceptive practice. Now Apple has modified the Installer to version 2.1 that clearly displays the difference…
MacWireless Announces 200 Mbps over Household Wiring
According to MacWireless, the Powerline is ideal for: Sharing broadband internet access around the home or office. Connecting networks together. Sharing printers, scanners and other peripherals. Transferring and sharing files between computers. Playing network games – you can even connect your game consoles. “Powerline Networking devices convert data from your computer into a signal that…
IBM Confirms Internal Mac (and Linux) Migration Project
IBM has engaged in an internal research project to evaluate Macs and Linux systems and compare them to the PCs theyire using now for potential migration. Currently, itsi just a pilot, research project, according to IBM. On Thursday Daniel Dilger at Roughly Drafted discussed the research project, and suggested that the program was designed to…
LeVitus: Leopard's Preview is a Superstar
Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus briefly recapped the development of the Portable Document Format (PDF) and how new features in the Leopard version of Preview work with that format in his column at the Houston Chronicle. Mr. LeVitus pointed out how one can customize the Toolbar (from the View menu) and add Annotate and Mark Up…
Apple Posts Session Details for 2008 WWDC Mac, iPhone, IT Tracks
Apple has posted detailed descriptions of 150 WWDC sessions on three tracks, iPhone, Mac, and Information Technologies. The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference is in San Francisco, June 9-13. To see detailed descriptions of each session, go to the WWDC08 sessions page and under the session track tabs, select the radio button for Descriptions: on.
Tom Yager, After a Break from Apple, Reports
Tom Yager has been a strong proponent for and expert reporter on Apple products and technologies for Infoworld. Recently, he took a self-imposed break from Apple hardware to gain some new perspective. Now, heis back and reported on Tuesday that there are some compelling technologies outside the Apple sphere, but heis also found a new…
Apple, Sony Settle Battery Fire Lawsuit in Japan
Apple Japan and Sony have jointly agreed to pay a couple in Japan Y1.3M (US$12,800) after they sued for damages when an Apple computer with a Sony battery caught fire, according to the Kyodo News Agency and reported by Dow Jones. The man suffered burns on his fingers. The lawsuit, filed in July 2007, said…
Making the Switch From Eudora to Apple Mail
Tonya Engst at Tidbits.com decided it was finally time to make the switch from Eudora to Apple Mail. She told the story of what happened and what she learned along the way on Sunday. “After months of hemming and hawing, I recently took the plunge and switched from Eudora to Apple Mail,” Ms. Engst wrote.…
Pimping a Mac mini
The thrill of a new computer, unpacking it and setting it up is well known to technologists. However, when thatis not an option, itis still possible to get some of that New Computer Smell by engaging in a fix up project, according to William Mize on Monday. Thatis what he did with his Mac mini…
Microsoft Retail Stores Would Fail
Rumors are floating around that Microsoft is considering retail stores, like Appleis, to showcase its products. The problem is, thereis nothing to showcase, and while Apple understands the retail store paradigm and has products to back it up, Microsoft does not. This week, BusinessWeek in addition to analysts from Gartner have pointed out that the…
Analyst Sacconaghi Predicts Apple's Q2 Numbers
Apple will come in at slightly higher than consensus revenues at US$6.99B, according to Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi who provided his estimates on Friday. In addition, Mr. Sacconaghi put his estimated earnings per share (EPS) at US$1.12, gross margins at 35 percent, higher than Appleis previous guidance of 32 percent thanks to favorable NAND…
Signiant Will Announce Apple FCP Support at NAB
Signiant, developer of a major digital media distribution management solution (DMDMS), will announce support for Appleis Final Cut Pro at the NAB show next week. Their system provides global, networked high speed file transfer, security, central management, automation, workflow and media integration. The DMDMS system acts as an additional architectural layer that allows Avid users,…
C|Net: Mac Security Not About the OS Anymore
Security researchers have never identified any instance in the wild in which a Mac has been exploited from the Internet, according to C|Net on Wednesday. Thatis despite a recent incident in which a well crafted Website was used to exploit a flaw in Safari. As a result, exploitation techniques have moved from attacking the OS…