Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Convenience is my Middle Name...

Convenience isn’t really my middle name, but it should have been. I love for things to be convenient, and I love convenient things. It’s not uncommon for me to spend half a day tinkering with a macro or script or utility or whatever, hoping to make some repetitive task just a wee bit easier and…

Just a Thought - Foxy Firefox!

Browsing For A Browser Since it was first introduced, I’ve enjoyed using Safari, Apple’s unique and entirely usable Web browser. What’s not to enjoy? It’s quick, looks great, and is lightweight; you can’t ask for more from a Web browser. Well…yeah, you can. See, while Safari has been my default browser for some time now…

Financial Times Talks iPod, Too

The Financial Times is the latest mainstream news outlet to publish something about Apple’s iPod. The London newspaper took a broad look at the market Apple dominates in an article called "Kids happy to get an Apple in their stocking." The article doesn’t break any ground in the news department, but is a continuation of…

Lehman Targets Apple at $64; Ups Earnings Forecast (UPDATED)

Citing expectations that busy retail traffic and strong demand for iPods will continue through the holiday season, Mr. Blount lifted his earnings estimate to 45 cents a share from 41 cents and his revenue forecast to $3.1 billion from $2.9 billion. He reiterated his iequal weighti rating on the stock. He also raised fiscal year…

Frameline - DVD Studio Pro: Creating a First-Play DVD Without Stress

For those novice users of DVD Studio Pro, I thought I might impart a simple little tip when using Apple’s DVD authoring application, specifically, how to create first-play DVDs. First play DVDs are movies that automatically play when placed in a home DVD player, and oftentimes simplify the DVD authoring process by eliminating the need…

.Mac Offers New Holiday iCards From Members, More

When we invited submissions for a special Members section of .Mac Holiday iCards, we expected to see some great images and we werenit disappointed. Now the time has come to applaud the creators of the 32 photos and illustrations selected this year. How? By sending their masterpieces to friends and family, of course — a…

Apple Launches iTunes in Canada (UPDATED)

The company is charging CDN 99 cents for individual music tracks. Apple said the Canadian service will feature over 700,000 songs. “The demand across Canada for the iTunes Music Store has been overwhelming,” said Eddy Cue, Appleis vice president of Applications, in a prepared statement. “We are excited to be able to offer music fans…

TMO Reports - Apple iTunes Adds Band Aid 20 Single, But Not in US

iPod owners in Great Britain can now download the Band Aid 20 single from the iTunes Music Store after Apple Computer reached agreement with the charity and its record label over its price. The single, priced at GB�0.79, is currently only available through the UK iTMS (see screen shot below) and not available in the…

Apple Delays iTunes Launch in Canada; Coming "Soon"

In a company statement given to The Mac Observer, an Apple spokesperson said, “We said that we would launch the iTunes Music Store in Canada by the end of November, but weire going to miss this deadline by a bit. Youill hear from us very soon.” Apple did not indicate why the launch had been…

iPontificate: iPod Photo Redux

After my last column, I received a pantload of responses about the iPod Photo. A lot of readers were wondering why in the world the new iPod Photo could not be used in the field as a storage device for digital cameras. Some readers thought you should be able to omit the computer altogether and…

Apple's Stock Closes Over 61; Sets New 4-Year High

After Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster surprised the investing community on Monday by raising Apple’s target price from US$52 a share to $100 per share, the markets reacted by shoving Apple’s stock up more than 11%. In very heavy volume of 45.9 million shares trading hands, AAPL closed Monday at 61.35, higher by 6.18 (+11.20%),…

Maine High School Freshmen Return to Pen and Paper

The majority of eighth graders in Maine who received iBooks across the state as part of a new laptop initiative last year have had to go without them this year, as only a quarter of high schools in the state could afford to extend the program to their schools. As the Morning Sentinel reports, however,…

iTunes Music Store Canada Arriving Tomorrow?

iTunes users in Canada report being greeted today with the message “The iTunes Music Store is not available in your country yet” when they try to browse the store, MacRumors. The message is identical to the one some European users saw a day before Apple expanded its iTunes Music Store operations to nine countries over…

Bill Gates Gets 4 Million Spams A Day

Junk e-mail, more commonly know as spam, clogs inboxes world wide, and wastes millions in thus far vain attempt to curb nuisance. It is likely that no one knows this more than Microsoft chairman Bill Gates: According to the Associated Press, Bill Gates gets millions of spams daily, 4 million to be exact. Steve Ballmer,…

Apple to be Delisted by Tokyo Stock Exchange

Bloomberg reported late on Wednesday that Apple’s stock will be removed from the Tokyo Stock Exchange on December 25th of this year. Trading at the exchange for AAPL has averaged a mere 1,340 shares per day in 2004, a tiny fraction of the 7.74 million shares per day that trade on the NASDAQ, the US…

Creative Plans MP3 Marketing Blitz Against iPod

Creative Technology will spend US$100 million next year to market its portable media devices in a worldwide campaign to grab market share from Apple Computer and its popular iPod player. Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo is quoting by the Reuters news agency as saying, “the MP3 war has started and I am the one who…

Stephen King: "I'm Thankful for iTunes"

S tephen King says that he is thankful for iTunes. The world-famous author listed iTunes among the many things he is thankful for in a column for Entertainment Weekly (EW). After mentioning his thankfulness for Tom Waitsi newest album, Real Gone (US$9.99 – iTunes) Mr. King said simply: “Come to think of it, Iim thankful…

Which Came First? Foofpod or iPod Sock? Readers Say Former

An Australian company has been selling for a few months now the foofpod, 17 different iPod fabric sleeves. Although not in as many colors or styles, Apple Computer announced its set of iPod Socks in late October. As one TMO reader stated Thursday, “My Foofpod arrived yesterday from Australia after almost a month of waiting…

Photos From Europe Apple Stores

< EM>HardMac.com offers two small collections of photographs today from Apple stores in Europe. The first is a collection of three photos of Appleis currently under-construction retail store in London on Regent St.. The store is scheduled to open November 20. “The building really is quite something and holds itself up well against all the…

Iomega, IOGEAR Debut Portable 1.8-inch Hard Drives

I omega and IOGEAR today both introduced new lines of portable hard drives based on the same 1.8-inch drive used in Appleis iPod. Both companies offer USB 2.0 drives, while IOGEAR also offers USB 2.0/FireWire Combo versions. Iomegais new USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive line is available in prd_id=21652029″>20GB and prd_id=21652029″>40GB capacities, as is IOGEARis…

Merrill's Milunovich Ups Apple iPod Sales, Earnings

Mr. Milunovich now believes the company will sell 3.5 million iPods in the holiday quarter. That is a jump from 2.7 million he predicted on October 25. “Whereas the older generation still thinks it strange to own a Mac, the younger generation may consider Apple a core brand for their digital lifestyle,” he wrote to…