News

IBM plans to continue developing the PowerPC chip, currently used in Apple computers, and will focus on server and embedded chip markets, even though Apple has planned a transition to Intel processors for future Macs, according to an eweek article. IBM intends to pursue more dual core chips based on the ones used in the…

Creative Labs Inc. president Craig McHugh said during a Wednesday conference call that the MP3 player industry faces a shortage of 1GB flash memory chips, and that the situation “is primarily a result of a special deal that Apple has secured from a key supplier for the holiday season.” Martyn Williams reported on the situation…

Show notes for TMO To Go: Mac Geek Gab For October 25th, 2005 Direct Links: MP3 Version. To say that this show is chock full of info is an understatement! John and Dave continue their tour through the terminal, discussing shells, public key encryption and various other nuances. The meat is in the tips this…

After Apple unveiled the new video-capable iPod, it also took the wraps off the latest commercial created by TBWA/Chiat/Day, the company’s longtime ad agency. Unfortunately, the striking spot, which features rap artist Eminem, is very similar to an ad created three years ago to sell Lugz boots, according to industry watchers. New York Times reporter…

iPod owners are more likely to create Internet content like blogs, according to an Intelliseek study. The report from August 2005 showed that iPod owners are twice as likely to have created a weblog than people who don’t own an mp3 player, and far more likely to have blogged than owners of other mp3 players.…

The Law Firm representing Jason Tomczak in a proposed class action law suit against Apple for defective iPod nanos has issued a statement detailing the complaint. The suit, filed on October 19, alleges that the resin coating on the surface of the iPod nano is defective, which results in excessive scratching, and that Apple may…

Gross profit margins are in the neighborhood of 50% for the new iPod according to research firm iSuppli, which took apart a 30GB video iPod and estimated that it costs US$151 to manufacture. The player sells for $299. Arik Hesseldahl has all the details in his latest BusinessWeek column. As Ars Technica noted when it…

The huge red curtain undulates slightly, as if sighing, as the air conditioner thrums to life. Steve stands beneath an overhead vent just beyond the curtains and closes his eyes while the cool air from the vent washes over him. Beyond the curtains, seats are filling, and the murmur of the sizable crowd grows more…

Aperture, Apple’s new professional photograph management and editing application, is a tool that complements Adobe Photoshop instead of competing with it. Even Adobe sees it as a supplement to Photoshop, according to a Publish article. Apple touts Aperture as workflow tool for professional photographers who deal with images in the Camera RAW file format. In…

Ars Technica’s Clint Ecker has posted an in-depth look at the 30GB video iPod, complete with the Web site’s usual dissection to see what makes the device tick. In this case, however, he calls it a vivisection because his “patient” lived. Mr. Ecker addressed all of the major questions that were posed immediately after Apple…

Research firms In-Stat and AccuStream iMedia Research have both issued reports that see big gains being made in the area of online video content delivery in coming years. The former expects worldwide revenue, on both a subscription and pay-per-download basis, of non-adult video content to reach US$2.6 billion by 2009. The latter sees a 109%…

Earlier this year, Apple instituted a program that enables accessory makers to put a “Made for iPod” logo on their products, in exchange for royalty payments. Likened to an “iPod tax” by some, the program is now mandatory for companies that want to connect their products to the dock connector on the bottom of the…

Show notes for TMO To Go: Mac Geek Gab For October 18th, 2005 Direct Links: MP3 Version. No Enhanced show (yet!) this week. We’ll be building a separate feed for the enhanced show. More news to come. This week, John and Dave fire up the terminal and walk through some of their favorite utilities, focusing…

Memorex has expanded its line-up of USB 2.0 TravelDrives with the introduction of the flash-based TravelDrive ID, which features a built-in LCD screen that shows its contents as well as how much storage capacity remains. The company also debuted Mega TravelDrives that come in 6GB and 8GB capacities; they use micro drives, similar to the…

Battle for Wesnoth:"I love it when a plan comes together," exclaimed George Peppard, typically through a cigar and ear to ear grin at the end of each episode of "The A-Team". Words to live by, and likely gray matter I’ll never get back, come to think of it. But sometimes a plan does come together,…

Maybe there should be a Palm death knell. If there was one I’d likely be a high contributor, but I wouldn’t like it very much. You see, I really like Palm and the devices they produce; well, some of them anyway. I also believe that the traditional PDA is passed its prime. I’m not the…

   As I sit down and write this (about 12:30 EST on Wednesday afternoon, the video iPod is a Maybe. Sure. Okay: definitely there’s a possibility that there’ll be an iPod that can play video, which will be released sometime, today possibly, or maybe sometime next year. Not to worry; by the time I upload…