Flash-MX: News

Apple's new iPod mini

OK, so Apple announced newer versions of the iPod mini and iPod photo yesterday, and although the mini's didn't include a color screen or bluetooth abilities like many speculated, they did include a moderate increase in storage space (4GB up to 6GB) and a massive increase in battery life (8 hours up to 18 hours). Other great news on the iPod mini front was that they lowered the price from $249 US to $199 for the 4GB model. But, what I did find curious, is that they also removed some of the bundled accessories, and force you to buy them separately now.

More info after the jump.

iPod mini (1G)

• 4GB (1,000 songs) for $249.


• Up to 8 hours of battery life.


• 5 colors: silver, gold, pink, blue, and green.


• includes a belt clip. All iPod minis include earbud headphones, an Apple iPod mini power adapter, a 1.2m 30-pin to FireWire® cable, a 1.2m 30-pin to USB 2.0 cable and a CD with iTunes 4.6 for Mac and Windows computers.


• Optional accessories with the following suggested retail prices include the iPod mini Dock for $39 (US), in-ear headphones for $39 (US) and arm band for $29 (US).

iPod mini (2G)

• 4GB (1,000 songs) for $199 or 6GB (1,500 songs) for $249.


• Up to 18 hours of battery life.


• 4 colors: silver, blue, pink, and green (minus the gold option from the first generation lineup).


• iPod mini includes earbud headphones, a belt clip case, a USB 2.0 cable, and a CD with iTunes 4.7.1 for Mac and Windows computers.


• An optional USB power adapter is available for $29 (US) which easily charges iPod mini when traveling. Other accessories include the iPod Dock for $39 (US) for desktop syncing and charging, in-ear headphones for $39 (US), an arm band for $29 (US), a lanyard for $19 (US) and FireWire® cable for $19 (US).

So, the migration from 1G to 2G iPod mini, you benefit from a significant increase in battery life (8 hours versus 18 hours, a 225% increase!) as well as the obvious jump from 4GB to 6GB (150% increase) for the same price point. But, what really interested me, apart from the price drops was the fact that they did so at the expense of the accessories. The first generation iPod mini included a belt clip, earbud headphones, power adapter, FireWire cable and USB 2.0 cable, and iTunes 4.6. The second generation iPod only includes the belt clip, earbud headphones, USB 2.0 cable, and iTunes 4.7.1 (a mere 1.02% increase in iTune version numbers). If you want the missing power adapter or FireWire cable that came bundled with the first generation iPod mini, you got to pony up $29 US and $19 US respectively. So, although they reduced the price of the 4GB iPod mini from $249 to $199, they seemingly removed about $48 worth of accessories, which isn’t a horrible deal as you can choose which accessories you’d really use and only pay if you needed them. The only other mysterious change between first and second generation iPods is the mysterious disappearance of the color "gold", which no longer seems to be an option.

The new iPod mini seems like a fantastic improvement. Although you get less bang for your buck, unbundling the accessories allowed Apple to introduce the iPod mini at a lower price point.

Apple releases Mac OS X Update 10.3.8

Today Apple released an update to OS X, bringing Panther up to 10.3.8.

Key updates include (but not limited to):

• improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers


• improved file sharing and directory services for mixed Mac and PC networks


• improved compatibility for third party applications and devices


• previous standalone security updates

Feel free to download the update at About Mac OS X Update or check out the full details of the update over at the aptly titled, About the Mac OS X 10.3.8 Update, page.

Or, you can always just the handy Software Update (Mac's vastly superior version of Windows Update), but then where's the fun in that?!

Got my Mac mini!

A few hours ago, the good people at UPS dropped off my new little Mac mini (a name which I still don't like).

I'm still amazed at how small this thing is! It fits [comfortably] underneath my monitor stand with room to spare. Of course, we went for the upper-end mini, with 512 megs RAM and included wi-fi. I haven't had a chance to install any software on it, but looking forward to putting the whole Macromedia Studio 2004 suite on there later today.

And it was nice to see that it also includes iLife 05 so I can see how horribly the computer will fail with GarageBand 2. Which reminds me, I was shocked to hear a bootup sound when the Mac first loaded up and prompted me to register. This thing is barely bigger than a regular CD-ROM drive and they somehow managed to squeeze in a tiny speaker!

If you want to check out more on the Mac mini, I'll be posting pictures here shortly (after I transfer them from the digital camera and resize them), but in the meantime you can check out the fantastic page at the AppleInsider.

Apple posts QuickTime of MacWorld 05 Keynote (finally)

OK, so maybe they're only a few hours behind, but it was torture trying to follow the new product announcements in an auto-refreshing HTML window that only updated every few minutes.

So, without further delay, check out the slightly delayed Keynote:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf05/

New Photos of Apple's new flash memory based iPod!

With Steve Jobs' keynote now officially over, the Apple store has been updated with photos of the new iPod (sadly called 'iPod shuffle') on the front page!

http://www.apple.com/

You can also see photos of their (also poorly named) "Mac Mini".

iPod shuffle
Mac Mini

Expect slow servers or error messages as they're no doubt being hammered right now.

Apple announces new tiny Mac

Wow! Hot off of the MacWorld San Francisco streets comes word that Apple recently announced their newest Mac. Sure, the details are few and far between at the moment (all news basically coming from blogs as Apple decided to not do a live feed of Steve Jobs' keynote speech this year), but Engadget is reporting the following:

Ross Rubin: Looks about a third of the size of the cube. Like you took a slice of the Cube. BYODKM: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. It’s about 6” x 6” x 2.5”. Comes with Panther, iLife ‘05. $499 with 1.25GHz G4 processor. 40GB hard drive.

Also of interesting note is the Apple Store is down, presumably while they load up all the new items being announced today (like iLife '05, etc) and we'll be able to see the pictures probably within an hour or two.

For those of you who want to follow along, you can check out Engadget's somewhat failing site here: Engadget -- Live from Macworld: Steve Jobs keynote.

Update [01]: Following comes direct from Engadget's site:

10:33am - Things are getting good. "Why doesn't apple offer a stripped-down Mac that is more affordable?" The Mac mini. About the width of a CD. Slot load combo drive (DVD/CD-R). DVI & VGA out. Ethernet. USB 2.0. Firewire. Runs quietly.

10:35am - Holding it in palm of hand. Looks about a third of the size of the cube. Like you took a slice of the Cube. BYODKM: Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, and Mouse. It’s about 6” x 6” x 2.5”. Comes with Panther, iLife ‘05. $499 with 1.25GHz G4 processor. 40GB hard drive.

10:36am - Faster version is $599. Available January 22nd. Crowd is going wild.

Update [02]: Heck, while we're at it, here's some new iPod news, from MacMerc:

iPod Shuffle: really tiny (smaller than most packs of gum), no screen, weighs under 1 ounce. Cap on the bottom, USB 2. 12 hour rechargeable battery. PC/Mac. Looks about the size of a flash key drive.

Congrats Canada! You now have an iTunes Store!

AppleInsider is reporting that Canada *finally* has access to Apple's wildly successful iTunes store. I guess it was only a matter of time. Canada seems to be 14th in line, after Austria, Belgium, Deutschland, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom and of course United States.

As we're no longer in Canada, I can't really verify the existance of the store one way or the other, although it was nice to see Apple finally acknowledge that they did miss their November estimate (albeit ever so slightly). Then again, acknowledging on December 1st that you missed a November 30th deadline isn't a huge step up to the plate. ;)

One thing I do have to say though, is that I checked out the US iTunes store last night and was extremely impressed. Especially with the celebrity playlist idea. I saw a bunch of songs that looked really interesting. Maybe I didn't see the option, but I think it would be really nice if you could preview tracks before downloading them. Sure, at only $1 US per track I guess it isn't a huge investment, but I know how quickly you can burn through money when you start buying CDs 2 and 3 at a time.

iTunes for Canada now accessible [via AppleInsider]

Update: I guess we CAN confirm Canada has a store as they seem to be listed when you click on the Choose Store link in the upper left corner. Congrats, eh!

Apple to begin manufacturing flash-based iPods

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple will begin manufacturing a flash-based iPod as early as December of 2004 and predicts the new music player to begin shipping in late January or February of 2005. Although, more details should be available after January's Macword trade show in SF.

Sources are saying that the MP3 player will be between 256MB and 1GB and will sell for less than $200US. Hopefully the new devices will be smaller than the existing iPod mini (4GB, $249US) which was announced at last year's Macword and has continued to sell throughout the year.

Currently Apple holds a 65% market-share for MP3 players (which includes all flash-based and hard drive-based models) and an impressive 92% market share of hard drive-based MP3 players.

Apple to begin manufacturing flash-based iPod next month [via AppleInsider]

New version of iTunes (version 4.7) released

With the recent announcement of the new iPod Photo, Apple has also released an updated version of iTunes, bringing the snazzy MP3 play'in software up to version 4.7.

According to iTunes' help files, the following features are new in 4.7:

What's new in iTunes 4.7
Using iTunes 4.7 you can:

• View photos on your iPod photo
  If you have an iPod photo, you can transfer photos on your computer to your iPod photo using the iPod pane in iTunes preferences.


• Easily spot duplicate songs in your library or playlists
  Choose Edit > Show Duplicate Songs to see only songs with the same title and artist.


• Float the Mini Player window in front of all other windows
  Make the iTunes Mini Player window float in front of all other windows using the new preference in the Advanced pane of iTunes preferences. You can also minimize the Mini Player to the task bar or system tray.

Finally! Two of the features I've been complaining about for a while; easy detection/removal of duplicate songs and an "Always on top" feature [which is pretty much mandatory in any MP3 application in the past X years].

Enabling the "always on top" feature is pretty straight forward:

1. Select Edit > Preferences from the main menu.


2. Click on the Advanced tab.


3. Enable the Keep Mini Player on top of all other windows checkbox and click OK to apply the changes.

Switching to "mini-mode" is as simple as right clicking the iTunes icon in your system tray (Windows) and selecting Switch to Mini Player from the contextual menu.

As always, iTunes can be downloaded from http://www.apple.com/itunes/.

Apple announces iPod Photo and iPod U2 Special Edition

Yesterday Apple announced two new iPods; iPod Photo and a special black iPod featuring U2.

I've compiled a list of sites featuring news, press releases or just some sites' opinions of the new models.

The pricing of the new models has also been announced, with models supposedly ready to ship today:

The iPod Photo is available in both a 60GB version for $600 and a 40GB for $500. The iPod U2 Special Edition sells for $350 (but isn't color - just a black version of their 20GB 4th generation iPod).

Update: Pricing for the OLD 4th generation iPods are still $300 for 20GB, and $400 for the 40GB version. So, it looks like getting the iPod in black costs an extra $50 (although does come with exclusive posters, laser etched autographs on the back and a $50 iTunes coupon. Also, I currently can't tell whether the black iPod will ship with some U2 music pre-installed, as previously speculated. Also, judging by the number, it looks like the color screen on the 40GB iPod Photo increases the cost by $100 over the 4th gen click wheel version).

Below are a list of sites with a bit more information:
The U2 iPod [Apple]
iPod Photo [Apple]
iPod photo [Boing Boing]
Apple unveils color iPod, U2 edition [CNET News.com]
iPod Photo, doesn't rock? [Digital Photography Review]
The iPod photo is here and The iPod Photo [Engadget]
U2-themed iPod now available [Engadget]
New iPods Finally Announced [Gadgetopia]
iPod Photo Dock Has S-Video Out and iPod Photo: First Details and Black iPod U2 Edition [Gizmodo]
iPod Photo: Apple releases iPod with Color Display and Black iPod: iPod U2 Special Edition officially released [I4U Future Technology News]
Apple debuts iPod Photo and U2 iPod and Analyst: Photo iPod yes, Video no, Wireless no [iPodlounge]
Dvorak weighs in on new U2 iPod and its implications and Apple introduces iPod Photo and Apple unveils U2 iPod [MacMinute]
Apple Unveils New iPod That Displays Photos and U2 Fans Furious at iPod Deal [MacNewsWorld]
U2 iPod, Photo iPod and Additional iTMS Localizations Released [MacRumors]
Socks, Photos, and Rock ’n’ Roll [Macworld Editors' Notes Weblog]
Apple Announces iPod Photo [PhotographyBLOG]
Apple Rolls Out IPod Photo, Rocks with U2 [Reuters: Technology]
Apple's IPod Features U2 Collaboration (AP) [via Yahoo! News: Technology]

Apple's next iPod supposedly sports a color screen for photo viewing

Something that no doubt hasn't been blogged about a billion times before, but Apple's next iPod will apparently use Toshiba's 60gb hard drives and Think Secret is reporting (speculating?) that it will have photo viewing capabilities.

The new iPod, which will sit at the top of Apple's fourth-generation line-up, will pack Toshiba's new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive, a 2-inch color liquid crystal display, iPhoto synchronization, audio/video-out capabilities, and will sell for $499. ... The 2-inch color screen is identical in size to other iPods, but will sport a higher resolution for photo viewing. However, the new device's real shining feature will be its video-out port, which will enable users to tote their photo galleries with them, ready to be plugged into any television for big-screen viewing.

[Source: Think Secret]

Considering buying an iMac G5?

For anybody else out there eyeing a new iMac G5, Apple has recently released oodles of information in the form of a "Developer Note". The note consists of four "chapters" (Overview of the iMac G5, Architecture, Devices and Ports, and RAM Expansion) as well as two appendices (Supplemental Reference Documents and Abbreviations). OK, so not all of it is nail biting excitement, but if you fancy technical specs, give it a nice long read.

[Link: iMac G5 Developer Note (HTML) from Apple.com]
[Link: iMac G5 Developer Note (PDF) from Apple.com]

Apple's latest update fixes 15 flaws in OS X

CNET reports that Apple has recently released an update for OS X that fixes 15 flaws in the operating system, some of them "critical".

The latest patch fixes various bugs in Apache 2, CoreFoundation (2), IPSec, Kerberos, lukemftpd, OpenLDAP, OpenSSH, PPPDialer, QuickTime Streaming Server, rsync, Safari (2), SquirrelMail and tcpdump. So if any of those sound important to you, you should upgrade immediately. If not, you should upgrade immediately.

[Via: Apple fixes 15 flaws in Mac OS X]

[Link: Apple Security Updates from Apple.com]
[Link: Apple releases new security update from MacMinute]
[Link: Security Update 2004-09-07]

In other Apple news, Think Secret reports that Apple is planning on opening at least 6 "mini" Apple retail stores in the upcoming months.

They offer this bite-sized quote:

Mac enthusiasts without a nearby store shouldn't despair, however: sources say Apple originally committed to opening 50 of the smaller stores by the end of 2005, with 20 of those opening by the end of 2004 -- greatly increasing the odds that more new regions will have access to an official Apple store.

Apparently the first six mini store openings will be in the following shopping malls:

• Carousel Center (NY)


• Santa Rosa Plaza (N. CA)


• Bridgewater (NJ)


• Oakridge (N. CA)


• Tukwila (WA)


• Stanford Shopping Center (N. CA)

And the size of these smaller Apple stores?

The smaller stores will continue the downsizing trend that Apple has employed with recent stores. Initial retail stores were about 6,000 square feet, which was later reduced slightly to 4,500 square feet. But when Apple decided to construct some 3,000 square-foot stores, it discovered something interesting: customer traffic increased over the larger stores and they still produced 90 percent of the sales volume of their bigger brothers. Based on that traffic and financial model, Apple decided to create an even smaller prototype store of about 1,500 square feet.

So there you go. Look for an Apple store coming to your neighborhood soon.

[Link: Details emerge on Apple "mini" retail stores from Think Secret]

Apple Unveils new iMac G5

Yay! After weeks of speculation and a few faked photos, Apple has officially announced their new G5 iMacs.

You can check out the details and all the sexy photos straight from the Apple site at apple.com/imac.

What if you could fit your whole life — all your music, all your photos, all your movies, all your email — in a computer as fun and useful as an iPod? Now you can. Introducing the futuristic iMac G5 in 17- and 20-inch widescreen models. The entire computer, including a G5-based logic board, slot-loading optical drive, hard disk, speakers, and even the power supply — dwells inside the enchanting display. Modern living starts at $1299.

[via Gizmodo]
[via Engadget]

iTunes Music Store in all EU countries by October... Canada still sucks.

According to iPodlounge, Apple VP of Marketing, Phil Schiller announced during the keynote speech at the Apple Expo Paris that the iTunes Store will be "available to all European Union countries by October".

In the Keynote presentation at Apple Expo Paris, Apple Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller has announced that the iTunes Music Store will be available to all European Union countries by October. Schiller also noted that Apple is the first company to sell 100 millions songs online since its debut in April 2003. Itunes Music Store has also sold 8 million songs in its first eight weeks since being introduced in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

I wonder if use crazy Canadians will EVER get the store up here in the frozen tundra.

Apple selling refurbished iPods for 30-45% off

If you've been waiting for more affordable iPods, this may be your lucky day. It seems that Apple is selling refurbished iPods for about 31-44% off their original price. Not exactly the newest 4th Generation models, but they have everything from 10GB to 40GB (so no iPod Mini either). Considering the newer full-sized iPods seem to have a few "glitches" this may not be such a bad deal after all...

Check out Apple's Hot Deals
[via iPodLounge]

Apple to update iPod Mini Software

Think Secret posts that Apple is planning to release a software update that will incorporate many changes found in the recently released 4G iPods. Changes such as:
shuffle music library with a single click
vary audiobook playback speed
create multiple On-The-Go playlists and delete songs from them

They also plan on improving synchonization, here's a quote (from Think Secret's site):

The iPod mini update will also offer synchronization improvements and the ability to hear user interface "clicks" through the headphones when scrolling through a music library.

[via Think Secret]

Apple recalls certain 15-inch PowerBook batteries due to fire hazard

Wow! I saw this today over at ThinkSecret. Not all PowerBooks are affected, only certain 15-inch batteries specific model numbers.

The batteries in question were sold worldwide beginning in January 2004 for use with the 15-inch Aluminum PowerBook G4, both individually and included with PowerBooks. The batteries have the model number A1045 and serial numbers that begin with HQ404, HQ405, HQ406, HQ407, and HQ408, the letter says, and contain cells that were manufactured by LG Chem Ltd. of South Korea during the last week of December 2003. Apple is stressing that no other PowerBook or iBook batteries are part of the recall.

[via ThinkSecret]

Using your iPod as a bootable drive

The Flash/Gadget community's own Phillip Torrone posted a How-To article over at Engadget on using your fancy Apple iPod as a bootable drive. A pretty good read, but the downside is that it only seems to work with OS X, so if you don't have an Apple, then you can only look at the pretty screenshots and move along.

The article also comes with this dandy disclaimer/warning:

Before we get started, we should warn you that doing this can and will use your iPod in a way it was not intended and may severely shorten the life of your iPod. The reason is that the little iPod hard drive wasn’t meant to be a full-time operating system drive. It’s okay to boot from it from time to time, but the little drives are rated to about 20,000 hours while desktop drives are usually rated to 750,000 hours or more.

[via Engadget]

Leaked iMac G5 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz specs?

It would appear that Think Secret have done it again. They seem to have it on good authority that the new G5 based 17-inch and 20-inch iMacs will be running several models at 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz.

To quote Think Secret:

In addition, the new models will be housed in an all-in-one body with the motherboard and components attached to the back of the display.

Color me impressed!

Check out all the scandalous details, while they last, over at Think Secret's site.

Apple Introduces Production Suite

Not only has Apple announced that it has begun shipping "Motion", but they've also announced a new suite, cleverly entitled Production Suite.

Not only do you get Motion, but also Final Cut Pro HD and DVD Studio Pro. The suite seems to be retailing for $1300 USD (full) or an upgrade price of $700 USD, which seems like a good deal considering the full version of Final Cut Pro HD is $1000 and Motion is $300.

Introducing Production Suite, the essential software suite for film and video production that delivers real-time production tools in one comprehensive and integrated package.

Combining Apple’s industry-leading Final Cut Pro HD, DVD Studio Pro 3 and Motion, Production Suite offers the most comprehensive collection of professional graphics, video, audio and DVD authoring applications to deliver real-time interactivity on a desktop or notebook computer. With common user interface elements shared across all the applications, Production Suite provides a seamless, intuitive and integrated workflow for film and video production.

Final Cut Pro HD [Apple]
Now you can capture and edit in DV, SD and high definition (HD) formats in real-time on your Power Mac G5 and Cinema Display.

Motion [Apple]
Groundbreaking real-time previews, behavior animations and a streamlined interface will change how you do motion graphics.

DVD Studio Pro [Apple]
Open your Final Cut Pro HD files and your Motion projects natively in DVD Studio Pro, add menus, transitions and more and burn your DVD title.

Mac OS X updated to 10.3.5

Sheesh, just off the heels of the Windows XP Service Pack 2 blog entry comes word that yesterday Apple released an update to OS X.

Boasting improved support for NTFS formatted volumes, improved font management and better Bluetooth support (and oodles of other improvements). Naturally the fine folks at Apple suggest everybody install the update...

Mac OS X Combined Update 10.3.5

Key enhancements include: - network volumes are now available in the Finder sidebar and Desktop for convenient access - improved file sharing and directory services for Mac (AFP), UNIX (NFS) PC (SMB/CIFS), PPTP, and wireless networks - improves reliability of user logins and mounting of home directories in a networked environment - improved support for NTFS formatted volumes - improved PostScript and USB printing - improved font management - improved disc burning and recording functionality - improved Bluetooth compatibility for Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse and Bluetooth phones - iPods connected via USB 2.0 are now recognized by iTunes and iSync - improved Open GL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers - updated Address Book, Disk Utility, DVD Player, Image Capture, Mail, Safari, Stickies, and QuickTime applications - improved compatibility for third party applications - additional support for FireWire and USB devices - FileVault, FireWire 800 and WebDAV improvements from Update 10.3.1 - previous standalone security updates and Bluetooth Update 1.5

Fancy new ipods soon

One from Think Secret this time. Apparently Apple is working on new iPods in fancy girly colors, but this time the BIG size (that will hopefully be appropriately priced - the ipod mini's are just so darned expensive).

rumor article .

Will be nice to see what these things'll look like, and who many gigs they'll cram into 'em. Gad, I'm turning into a hardware gadgety blog...

Tiger preview

Check out the sneak peek of the next Mac OS: Tiger.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/

This tells you about interesting features, such as Dashboard (pretty much a direct rip of currently available Konfabulator), and Safari RSS. Dashboard lets you use widgets on the desktop (check out Konfabulator if you want to know what it's like). Safari RSS lets you type in a feed URL and view listings easily in Safari. Also enables you to compile listings from various feeds into a single page. New iChat AV looks cool, but I don't know many with or using webcams so not very intriguing to me. In addition, iChat regularly pisses me off with the limited number of messages you can send in 10 seconds (so I abandoned it for MSN until they fix this lame ass feature).

Enough prattling from me.

Airport express

A very sweet new toy, from Apple:

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

This thing plugs into the wall, and lets you have your tunes anywhere in the house - a small wireless access point. But it even has a headphone jack, so you could just plug in a pair of speakers anywhere and have a stereo in your room. Still a little pricey for that, but definitely a great direction! Set up a playlist, send it off to whatever room. Plus I saw this applescript in one of the mac magazines where you can shut off iTunes after a specified amount of time.

Go macs!

New Macs

There are some new Macs on the horizon. Apple is talking about a few new dual-processor G5s, the fastest of which is actually 2.5GHz. Pretty sweet stuff. And they're shooting for 3GHz soon too. No timeframes announced on any G5 laptops or iMacs, though. As expected, hard to fit all that computer in such a small space.

Read the full story here.
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/06/09/apple/index.php

Ipod mini: I like pretty and shiny things

I'm a girl, so the thought of a pink iPod is just darn cool. I am attracted to shiny objects. Yep, so I think it's pretty nifty that iPod has come out with iPod jr. It's 4 gigs. Haha, mine's 20. The only thing I dislike is earbuds though, and the new iPod has new earbuds. I wonder if they're any better...

OK, so not so Flash, but it is Flash-y. (groan)

http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/