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Performance Boosted iMacs Arrive This Morning

Stephen Antonucci — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:15:35 +0000

Apple this morning has introduced major performance upgrade to the iMac line using Core 2 Duo processors based on Intel's new 45 nanometer Penryn architecture. All models now include a 1,066MHz system bus that is still unavailable on any official Intel mobile Core 2 chip, and the top-end model runs at 3.06GHz. All additionally include a larger 6MB of Level 2 cache. An optional GeForce 8800 GS provides faster 3D for gaming is available on the 24-inch model.

Prices are the same as before and start at $1,199 for a 2.4GHz, 20-inch system with 1GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, a Superdrive, and ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT video with 128MB of memory. Moving to the $1,499 mid-range 20-inch model boosts speed to 2.66GHz while doubling memory to 2GB, increasing storage to 320GB, and adding a 256MB Radeon HD 2600 XT for graphics. A $1,799 24-inch model ramps clock rates up to 2.8GHz while keeping its same specifications. A special-order 3.06GHz model at $2,199 adds the GeForce 8800 GS video as well as a 500GB drive. All are available immediately from the online Apple Store.

Apple Updates MacBook Pros

Stephen Antonucci — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:09:37 +0000

Apple has introduced an update to the MacBook Pro that features multi-touch trackpads, bigger hard drives and faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

Apple Buying Chip Company

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:03:05 +0000

According to a Forbes article, Apple has agreed to buy P.A. Semi, a boutique microprocessor design company for $278 million in cash that may create a chips for future iPhone and iPod products. The 150-person chip company, P.A. Semi, was founded in 2003 by Dan Dobberpuhl, who was a lead designer for the well-regarded Alpha and StrongARM microprocessors developed by Digital Equipment in the 1990s. Supposedly the negotiations was done in Steve Jobs own home. The decision to center the iPhone design around a chip that Apple could own may mark a significant strategic choice by Apple, ensuring Apple can continue to differentiate its flagship phone as a raft of competitors.

Apple Releases Several Firmware Updates

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:36:57 +0000

Apple has released several firmware updates for Intel-based Macs, a restore image to recover if the update trashes your computer, and firmware fixes for Apple's keyboard. ... Mac Book Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5 This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro computers. iMac EFI Firmware Update 1.3 : This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of iMac computers.

So what is going on with Apple’s Xserve?

Stephen Antonucci — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:59:42 +0000

Last week Apple introduced a new version of Xsan, their storage area network file system product while simultaneously discontinuing the Xserve RAID. Apple is basically outsourcing the RAID to Promise Technology. I noticed that the Xserve is missing from the Apple online stores. It still can be found here and seems to still be for sale. I makes be wonder, is a new Xserve coming? I doubt Apple would drop out of servers completely.

Apple Discontinues Xserve RAID

Stephen Antonucci — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:51:26 +0000

Apple has discontinued its Xserve RAID product line outsourcing to a product from Promise Technology. The Promise RAID boxes can be configured with up to sixteen 750GB SATA hard drives or 16 SAS 300GB drives for up to 12 TB of storage. The 12TB SATA model tops out at $15,000. You can buy an expansion chasis fitted with 16 75Gb Drives for $12,000. Individual 750GB SATA Drives are $400 each. Promise's RAID box is certified to work with Apple's new Xsan 2 high-performance shared disk file system. The Promise RAID will be sold through the Apple online Store and through Apple Authorized Resellers have been tested by Apple to ensure the performance and reliability you expect from an Apple qualified product.

CES 2008: Optimus Maximus keyboard

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 01:01:40 +0000

Optimus Maximus keyboard is one interesting and expensive keyboards. We have been hearing about this for waht seems like years and it may now soon be available. Demo is done on an iMac. Interesting thing is Apple has applied for a patent for a similar keyboard built on a bit different technology.

Apple Brings iMac Graphics Firmware Fix

Stephen Antonucci — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:06:19 +0000

Apple has released a fix for some users experiencing freezing on the 20 and 24 inch aluminum iMacs that have the ATi Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics card. The iMac graphics firmware update for Macs running Tiger with the iMac Software Update 1.2.1 or Leopard with iMac Software Update 1.3. These are available via Software Update or from the Apple website.

Acer Buying Gateway to Become No. 3 PC Maker

Stephen Antonucci — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:30:16 +0000

According to a C|NET story, Taiwan based PC maker Acer will acquire the struggling Gateway Computer for $710 million and pass Lenovo in global market share to become the third largest behind HP and Dell.

Oh Yes, There Are New Keyboards Too!

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:05:11 +0000

Apple released new wired and a wireless keyboards also. They are a radical new design, super-thin, very aluminum and replace the older white Apple keyboards we are used too. The new keyboards have lost more than size as compared to Apple keyboards of the past, it has lost the Apple logo on the Command key! Now this surprises me. The $49 wired keyboard has two USB 2.0 ports (one on each side) for printers, flash drives, iPhones, iPods and other peripherals. It also has function keys for one-touch access to a variety of Mac features such as screen brightness, volume, eject, play/pause, fast-forward and rewind, Expose, and Dashboard. Its extended layout includes document navigation controls and a numeric keypad. The $79 Wireless keyboard is small, modeled after the MacBook keyboard and powered by three AA batteries, claiming 9 months of battery life. The Function keys' symbols are much smaller and the functions are more clearly demarcated. It lacks the number keys, like the MacBook and MacBook Pro making it quite small. Like the model it replaces, the Bluetooth KB has no USB. Apple claims, you need an "existing keyboard and mouse for initial setup" of the BlueTooth KB, which seems odd to me. I am guessing you may have to activate BlueTooth on a new machine and make the KB discoverable? OS X in the past always found the older Bluetooth keyboards. Which one would you get?

AirPort Extreme Base Station Now Sports Gigabit Ethernet

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 15:08:42 +0000

Apple quietly upgraded the AirPort Extreme Base Station so it now includes Gigabit Ethernet ports instead of the 10/100 ports found on earlier models. The new AirPort Extreme Base Station includes three local network ports, and one WAN port that support Gigabit Ethernet speeds. It also includes the shared USB 2.0 port found on the Base Station it replaces, and continues to support the older 802.11a, b, and g standards. Apple's 802.11n-compatible AirPort Extreme Base Station is still priced at US$179.

New Apple Hardware and Software Tomorrow?

Stephen Antonucci — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:10:30 +0000

Apple's scheduled press event will be at the Apple Town Hall in Cupertino, California tomorrow starting at 10 AM PST. New Mac-related hardware is expected, which may include a new iMac, a updated Mac Pro, and the possible dropping of the Mac mini (or replacement). Update Apple's iLife and iWork suites, are also expected. iLife '06 suite of applications was updated more than 18 months ago at Macworld Expo in January 2006. I would not be surprised that new versions of iLife and iWork is just previewed and do not ship to Leopard pounces in October. There could be some .Mac enhancements announced as there are sorely needed. I do not expect to see any Apple's iPhone or iPod product line announcements. But maybe. We will all know tomorrow. In other news, Apple has seeded Tiger 10.4.11 and Leopard Preview Build 9A499 to developers. I am sure an iPod update (maybe with 16GB of stoarge for the Nano) on the horizon before the Xmas season. Apple is already preparing to broaden its iPhone distribution to several prime retailers well ahead of the important holiday shopping season.

MacCuff: Make a Mac mini act like an iMac

Stephen Antonucci — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:07:53 +0000

Sonnet Technologies has introduced the MacCuff Mini, a bracket for mounting a Mac Mini on the back of an LCD monitor (or under a desk). The steel bracket can be attached to the VESA mounting holes on the back of a monitor and allows the Mini to slide into place, leaving free access to the optical drive slot and ports. The kit includes a 12-inch DVI-to-VGA monitor cable. The MacCuff Mini costs $49.95.

Elgato Shipping Turbo.264 Device

Stephen Antonucci — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:02:42 +0000

Elgato's Turbo.264 is a USB device (30mm x 85mm x 12mm) that provides hardware-accelerated encoding of video to H.264 MP4 files for Apple TV, video iPod, or Sony PSP. The hardware works with the included Elgato software or with the iPod or Apple TV export command of popular Macintosh video applications. According to Elgato, the hardware encodes "up to four times faster on Macs with Intel Core processors." The Turbo.264 is $99.95 for Mac OS X 10.4 on a G4, G5, or Intel Mac with a built-in USB 2.0 port. With all the encoding I do to H.264, I am looking forward to getting one of these.

Apple Releases AirPort Extreme Base Station Update

Stephen Antonucci — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:31:11 +0000

Apple has released the AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n Firmware 7.1. This update includes general fixes, compatibility updates, and security improvements for the AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n. This update requires AirPort Utility 5.1. If you have AirPort Utility 5.0 installed, you can update to AirPort Utility 5.1 by installing AirPort Base Station Update 2007-001:

• AirPort Base Station Update 2007-001 for Mac • AirPort Base Station Update 2007-001 for Windows

Apple's newest AirPort Extreme Base Station allows for printer sharing and network storage via its USB port. More info and download link (4.6MB) for AirPort Extreme Base Station with 802.11n Firmware 7.1 here.

Apple Intros 8-core Mac Pro

Stephen Antonucci — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:22:10 +0000

Apple had a nice surprise waiting for me this morning on their website. A new Mac Pro to go with the new Adobe CS3 expected next month. I can't wait to see the Apple software releases that should come from NAB. 8-core processing:

• Two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 series processors • Intel Core microarchitecture • 8MB of L2 cache per processor (16MB total; each pair of cores shares 4MB) • 128-bit SSE3 vector engine • 64-bit data paths and registers • Energy efficiency optimization • 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual independent frontside buses

The Apple website says that this beauty will ship in 24 hours and prices start at $2499.

Dell To Offer Linux on Desktop and Laptop PCs

Stephen Antonucci — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 18:16:43 +0000

Dell has received more than 100,000 responses in its recent survey, and more than 70 percent of the respondents said they would want a Dell PC with Linux for both home and office use. The Dell announcement of plans to pre-install and support Linux could encourage more widespread use of Linux PCs by small businesses as well as consumers. I am sure this will not amuse Dell's software partner in Redmond. We are now living in a new world, Dell is struggling for new customers, Macs are all over the place and despite Microsoft's claims that Windows Vista is selling faster than XP did, Vista is not doing as well as it should have. Dell says the people have spoken, and they want Linux on Dell hardware. So this week Dell will soon begin offering Linux on select desktop and laptop PCs. Although Dell already offers the Linux open-source operating system (OS) for servers and its Precision workstation line, Linux is not offered as an option for the majority of its PCs. Is this just another sign that Microsoft has lost some favor with one of its biggest customers, that consumers are more eager to try alternatives to Windows, or both?

Verizon’s New EV-DO Card Has MacBook Pro Support

Stephen Antonucci — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 21:56:46 +0000

Verizon Wireless announced that they are shipping Novatel’s V740 ExpressCard, an expansion card that enables laptops including MacBook Pros to work on Verizon Wireless’ BroadbandAccess network at EV-DO Rev. A speeds. The card costs $179.99 with a two-year service agreement or $229.99 with a one-year plan.

OWC Has Blu-ray Drives for Macs and PCs

Stephen Antonucci — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:12:19 +0000

Other World Computing (OWC) has the immediate availability of both internal and external Blu-ray drives for Mac and PC. The internal drives utilize the IDE/ATAPI bay port, and the external drives utilize FireWire or USB 2.

Michael Dell Back in the Hot Seat

Stephen Antonucci — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 02:08:50 +0000

Michael Dell will return as CEO of Dell Inc., replacing Kevin Rollins, who also resigned as a member of the board. Dell has had disappointing earnings and battery recalls in the last few quarters. The company's accounting practices also are the subject of federal scrutiny. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has subpoenaed documents related to Dell's financial reporting from 2002 to the present.

Apple Updates XserveRAID to 10.5 TB

Stephen Antonucci — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:43:52 +0000

Apple just updated its Xserve RAID product, up to 10.5TB in capacity while lowering the cost per gigabyte of storage to $1.31. The Xserve RAID works with Macs, Windows, Linux, Solaris, NetWare and mixed-platform environments. Xserve RAID has an average read throughput of up to 380MB/s and write throughput of up to 301MB/s. The system also supports real-time, uncompressed, high-definition (HD) and multiple-stream (SD) video editing without dropping a frame, according to Apple.

Warner And LG Help In High-def DVD Formats War?

Stephen Antonucci — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 20:01:50 +0000

As the competing high-definition DVD technology war is raging on, two companies are moving to the middle ground announcing products at CES designed to handle both formats. The launch of two rival DVD formats has left the electronics an movie industry facing a battle similar to the 1980s Betamax versus VHS debate leaving consumers guessing and sales and adoption rates low. With no clear winner in the foreseeable future between Blu-ray and HD-DVD camps at least these two companies are trying to mediate for sales sake.

Griffin Intros ExpressCard 5-in-1 Reader

Stephen Antonucci — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 23:47:20 +0000

Griffin has introduced an ExpressCard/34 reader, $29.99 - that will fit the MacBook Pro for SD, Memory Stick/MSP, MultiMediaCard, and xD. Many Memory Stick Duo/Micro, miniSD and microSD come with adapters so these would work with Griffin's new reader also. Nice stocking stuffer for any MacBook Pro owner and photographer.