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Mr. Marshall is also expecting Apple to turn in a “solid” March quarter when the company reports on April 22nd, 2009. He believes the company will beat its own guidance and current Wall Street estimates with revenues of $8.3 billion and $1.20 in earnings per share (EPS). That compares to guidance from Apple of $7.6-$8…

Ulysses from The Blue Technologies Group is an ambitious, complex, capable writer’s tool that has emphasis on the free flow of the writer’s thoughts as opposed to the distracting task of deciding how the text should appear as it’s written. In some respects, it has the look and feel of Scrivener, but has additional tools…

Mr. Shapiro was consulting with an older couple in the late 1990s when the wife said, “Why don’t we show him the kidney PowerBook? Maybe he can answer some questions about that computer.” He asked why they call it the “kidney PowerBook,” she said, “My husband donated one of his kidneys to his sister. She…

One of the biggest complaints I hear from Mac users is lack of USB ports. Griffin Technologies has released a new product, the SmartShare USB, particularly designed for notebooks to help address that problem. This device includes two USB ports, and each port is on a flexible six-inch cable, so it can fit into pocket,…

I’ve had the same discussion over and over with highly technical colleagues who are not yet on Twitter. They say to me: “Isn’t Twitter for kids?” “I don’t do social networking.” “It’s a waste of time.” “I’m a boring person. I can’t think of anything to say.” A Technical TimelineAll these notions are derived from…

Apple sells millions of Macs each quarter. It’s their bread and butter. Apple conducts the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) every summer. Apple hired Jordan (Mr. BSD) Hubbard to work on Mac OS X. Mac OS X has full UNIX certification. Snow Leopard looks to be a major step forward in UNIX-based OS technology. So what’s…

There isn’t any word yet on exactly what Apple has in store for the flash chips, although is seems likely that they may be destined for iPods or the iPhone.Assuming the DigiTimes sources are correct, Apple’s big buy could mean that the company is ramping up for a big product push, and since chip supplies…

Microsoft won’t, however, have to start writing out all those zeroes right away because the company plans to fight the ruling. “We are very disappointed in the jury verdict. We believe that we do not infringe, that the patent is invalid and that this award of damages is legally and factually unsupported,” the company said…

Should Steve Return? I noted with interest a column last week by Shawn King that discussed whether Steve Jobs should return to his regular duties at Apple, assuming he is healthy. The gist of the argument was that Mr. Jobs’ real or fabricated health issues will always remain a distraction — because he is a…

Hope you don’t die of dysentery Intel-based Mac owners, however, can play the IIgs games by downloading a standalone emulator linked to from the Virtual Apple ][ site. A standalone Apple II emulator is also available. The site owners said they “will soon be offering a complete download package of all disks. We also are…

StoryMill is a writer’s tool that provides organization and composition support for writing a novel. It exploits the strengths of a computer, especially in the context of Mac OS X and a Cocoa application, to assist the novelist with scenes, timelines, characters, locations and some tactical assistance such as cliché detection. Story Mill is a…

In his research note, obtained by The Mac Observer, Mr. Misek said he raising Apple’s rating, ” based on positive feedback from our channel and increasing confidence that Apple’s product refresh cycle on both the iPhone and Mac could translate into meaningful gains for the back half of 2009.” He said he was raising his…

While I can recommend buying a GPS, renting one is a different story. A few months ago, when I rented a car for 10 days, the rental company offered to include a Garmin for about $14/day. That works out to at least $140 for the 10 days (probably more with hidden taxes and fees). For…

Not “he will not,” or guesses to that effect. He should not. It’s not necessary, he’s not needed and it can be argued it’s not good for him or Apple.Jobs said, in his open letter from mid-January, “…the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction…” If Jobs comes back to Apple as the…

— Steve Jobs No company with more than one employee is perfect. Changing companies often simply replaces one set of problems with another set. So if you’re thinking about going to work for Apple, or even some other company, and you’re wondering what’s great about Apple, here’s my Top Ten list, in no particular order,…

Recently, Little Snitch, a security tool, threw up a notice about something odd happening with one of my devices. (I’m still working on figuring that part out with the help of Cocoatech Support, maker of Path Finder. Note: 4/1/2009: turns out to be an aggressive Samba search by Path Finder — something that can be…

The new online ads are currently featured prominently on the New York Times Web site, and include a banner ad and two tile ads on either side of the Times’ logo. The banner ads consist of two slot machine wheels — on one side is a wheel with a washed out Mac and various worthless…

Also on Monday, Seth Weintraub delved into some of the things that Apple didn’t talk about at the iPhone 3.0 event, but which various developers have discovered. More disclosures like these are likely to emerge as developers dig into the new SDK.On Tuesday, I read about a new competitor to boxee called ZeeVee. For now,…

Steve Perlman, a former member of Apple’s QuickTime team who is now CEO of OnLive, on Tuesday presented the service to a packed house, according to Macworld. He demonstrated Onlive on a TV, a Del laptop, and a MacBook, acknowledging that Macs “never get their fair share” of the gaming pie. (Macworld’s article says that…

— Andy Grove No company with more than one employee is perfect. Changing companies often simply replaces one set of problems with another set. So if you’re thinking about going to work for Apple, or even some other company, and you’re wondering what’s good and bad about Apple for comparison, I’m going to describe the…

Physicists like to talk about the probability, calculated by Statistical Mechanics, of all the air in a room moving to one side and suffocating the inhabitants. It can happen, but the probability is such that it’s unlikely to happen or have ever happened in the lifetime of the universe. Similarly, the probability of everyone abandoning…

Prince of Persia, which was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC last December, takes the venerable series in a new direction. Players take control of a new unnamed Prince as he makes his way across a mysterious land with help from Elika, a woman he meets after a sandstorm causes him to lose…

On a TV, gamers plug in the MicroConsole, which is about the size of a deck of cards. On a Mac or PC, gamers use a browser plug-in. In addition to solo and multiplayer gaming, OnLive will offer a variety of community features, including the ability to watch live games in action, make Brag Clips…

Prior to playing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for the Mac, I never would have guessed that there was an amazing musician just waiting to be discovered within me.There still isn’t, but that doesn’t make the game any less fun.Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is the Mac port of one of the latest…