Month of February , 2005

Jef Raskin, creator of the human user interface died of Cancer on Saturday, February the 26th, at age 61. Jef Raskin is known for being the main creator of the Macintosh project.

AppleInsider has published a picture showing the iPod Connector. The picture comes from a presentation made by Apple representatives in Japan. It shows an iPod connected to a Canon digital camera using the iPod connector.

IfoAppleStore reports some new locations that Apple might have chosen for future Apple retail store openings. Among them are Annapolis (Maryland), Flatiron District (New York), Eastview Mall (Victor - NY).

Sources reported that the build 8A393 of Mac OS X Tiger was seeded today to a restricted number of developers and that build 7C10 of Apple Remote Desktop 2.2 beta update has been made available earlier this week through the Apple Developer Connection web site.

TiVo's shares went up 17% today as analyst Steven Kroll Jr. of Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. said that Apple could buy TiVo which makes digital video recorders.

Apple has released a software/firmware update (2005-02-22) for the iPod.

Here are the changes of this update :

On the new product web page of the iPod photo, we noticed that Apple silently mentions, since today, a new feature and a new accessory are coming in march for the iPod photo. The first is the capability to chose your slideshow's transitions using the iPod's On-The-Go feature and the second is a new (optional?) accessory which is a connector that will allow you to transfer your pictures directly from your digital camera.

Apple has just updated its iPod products. The iPod mini gets hard drive update to 6GB while the regular and photo iPod also see changes to their hard-drive capacity and their pricing.

Here is a sum-up of the new product line :

Apple is has closed its European stores (DE, FR, IT, UK...), as it is usually the case before a new product release. New iPods are expected to be released today.

During an interview with CNET News, PortalPlayer's CEO, Gary Johnson, almost reveals a feature that could be added to the next iPods.

Apple has just released a security update through the Software Update utility.

Here is the description of this update provided by Apple:

ThinkSecret posts additionnal information about tomorrow's expected release of new iPods. The site claims that Apple might update the entire iPod line. Pricing is also revealed by the site: new iPod models will be priced $349 and $449 while the iPod mini could be priced only $199.

Yesterday, Toshiba announced it would boost production of flash memory chips because the current demand is too high.

ThinkSecret has noticed an interesting job offer Apple has posted on Gamasutra. The job offer is for an embedded software programmer.

As reported on Mac4Ever, a French Mac site, France Info (a French radio) has a scoop from an interview with Motorola's car product manager, Bogdan Nedelcou who reveals Apple is going to add Bluetooth wireless capability to the next generation of iPods.

The iPod shuffle has taken some time to arrive in Europe but it looks like the first supplies are arriving to major Apple partners and ressellers while. These first days of availability also show good signs for the product success in Europe.

MacRumors reports that Apple has filed two new trademarks at the US Patent and Trademark office.

AppleInsider claims to have very reliable sources saying that Apple is already working on a Mac OS X Panther 10.3.9 update.

According to ThinkSecret, Apple is planning to add color display firstly on the iPod mini (by next week or the week after) and on 5G iPods later in the year.

The site also confirms that the iPod mini's will see a hard drive update to 5 or 6Gb.

According to AppleInsider, Apple could be about to release speed-bumped iMacs this month. Online Apple Stores are now showing ship delays of 7 to 10 days across the iMac line which is usual with Apple when a line of products is EOL'd.

A speed-bump to 2Ghz (probably for the high-end model) is suggested while sources informed AppleInsider that Apple will make an announcement as soon as on next Wednesday.

According to ThinkSecret, Apple is planning to release Final Cut Pro 5 during the NAB 2005 (National Association of Broadcasters conference which takes place in mid-april at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

AppleInsider reports that Apple has revealed the Mac OS X Tiger's retail packaging through an e-mail news-letter that was sent to customers.

On November, macosXrumors was the first to report on Apple's plans to open a retail store in Toronto. The news had been confirmed by Apple later in the same day and was reported by News.com.

According to News.com, both Mac enthousiast sites, AppleInsider and PowerPage, which are being sued by Apple Computer for revealing information under non disclosure agreement, are not planning to stop publishing or to reveal their sources, despite the subpoenas requested by Apple.

Allison Johnson, HP's senior vice president of marketing, has decided to leave HP to become vice president of worldwide marketing communications at Apple Computer.

Today, Motorola has finally revealed its new generation of mobile phones that are compatible with Apple's iTunes songs.

Only one week after the seed of Mac OS X Tiger build 8A369, Apple has already seeded the build 8A378 to a restricted number of developers, late last week. It looks like build seeding is accelerating, this is usually a sign that the final release is not so far.

One of our readers has sent us this interesting e-mail during the week-end, hinting that Apple plans to release a new Powerbook with a high definition capable display

As announced earlier this week, Cobb County School District has published details on the 63 000 laptops deal between Apple and Georgia's schools on its web site.

Today, Apple computer has announced that its board of directors have approved a 2-for-1 stock split that will take effect on February the 28th.

For those who have never heard of it, Guest PC is a new PC emulator by Lismore Software Systems (the makers of "Blue Label Power Emulator"). The emulation world has seen plenty of vaporware announcements in the last few years while Microsoft Virtual PC was the only PC emulator to remain alive. So we found it was interesting to take a look at this piece of software and tell you if it is really functional, as the Lismore Software Systems website claims. The good news, is that it is not vaporware and that this program not only does exist but also runs quite fine and is pretty easy to use.

Apple has just released Mac OS X Panther 10.3.8 Client and Server. The update weights 27.7MB for both client and server versions and is available through the Software Update utility or through Apple's web site (client, server).

Today, Carly Florina has stepped down as CEO and chairman of HP, citing disagreements with the company's board members on executing HP's strategy. Meanwhile, HP's Current CFO, Robert Wayman has been appointed as interim CEO.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the previously hinted bid of Georgia schools are in favor of Apple and that details will be given as soon as next Wednesday, when the deal should be officially validated. The deal is said to be between $60 and $70 million and will be the biggest education deal in Apple's history.

Apple has seeded new Mac OS X Tiger as well as Panther 10.3.8 builds last week. The latest Tiger build is numbered 8A369 while the latest Panther 10.3.8 build is 7U15.

Two weeks ago, we reported that stocks were very low across the Powerbook and eMac line and both lines showed signs of end of life. Apple released new Powerbook last Monday and confirmed that Powerbooks were EOL'd. However, it looks like eMacs were actually not EOL'd.

Apple has made available an update of iPhoto to version 5.0.1 through the Software Update utility. The following description is provided for this update:

"iPhoto 5.0.1 addresses issues with upgrading iPhoto 4 libraries, dragging albums into folders, importing MPEG 4 movies, and also includes a number of other minor fixes."

MacObserver has posted a QuickTime video of one of the two commercials that will be aired during this year's Superbowl for the iTunes-Pepsi promotion.

On Monday, Apple has reiterated that it doesn't plan to release G5 based Powerbooks anytime soon. CNET has posted a two pages report, explaining why it is not easy for Apple to put a PowerPC G5 processor into the Powerbook line.