iPod classic, nano updated to 1.0.2

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:10:00 GMT
Apple on Saturday quietly released version 1.0.2 updates for both the iPod classic and third-generation iPod nano. The new updates address "bug fixes," according to the company. In testing after applying the update, MacNN has discovered that the firmware upgrade primarily affects Cover Flow behavior and performance, improving its similarity to th...

iPod hot to the touch this Christmas

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:30:00 GMT
The iPod touch will be one of the most popular toys this holiday season according to predictions from retailer Toys R Us. The chain has released a list of 20 toys that it believes will be top sellers this year, knocking the iPod nano from its top spot. The UK Telegraph reports that "Optimus Prime and his fellow robots from the film Transformers, as...

Refurb top-end Macs from $1,699

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 23:25:00 GMT
Apple is offering refurbished versions of its professional Mac desktops and notebooks, with prices starting from $1,699. The company's reconditioned MacBook Pro is available in 15-inch and 17-inch models, both of which include a built-in iSight camera. Currently available 15-inch MacBook Pros come with 2.2GHz ($1,699), 2.33GHz ($1,899), and 2.4GHz...

Microsoft hires new Zune exec

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 22:45:00 GMT
Hot on the heels of its Zune refresh, Microsoft is changing leadership at its portable digital music player division. The company has appointed Rick Thompson to corporate vice president, who will replace most of the biz dev duties previously performed by J Allard, according to Microsoft spokesman Brian Eskridge. Allard is a corporate vice president...

Mac users quadruple on Princeton campus

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:20:00 GMT
Despite Apple's lower overall market share in U.S. schools, many educational institutions are reporting steep increases in Mac usage that in some cases overshadow their total number of Windows users. DailyPrincetonian.com reports that just 10 percent of Princeton students had Macs in the 2003-2004 school year, but that Mac-toting students since th...

2X Blu-Ray drive upgrade for MBPs, iMacs

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:05:00 GMT
Fastmac has announced a 2X Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade that is compatible with the PowerBook, iBook and MacBook Pros. The new slimline, slot loading drive can fit up to 50GB of storage on one disc. The drive supports reading, writing and re-writing to single and dual layer Blu-ray media at up to 2x speeds. The drive is also compatible with standa...

Apps: Tidy Up, Dupin, Sound Byte

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 19:35:00 GMT
Tidy Up! ($30) search for duplicate files and packages; by the owner application, content, type, creator, extension, date modified, date created, name, label, visibility and more. You can also search by the tag, duration and bit rate of MP3s and AACs audio files, search the content of the iTunes, iPod and iPhoto databases, search the messages of Ma...

Apple to snap up 3.16GHz Xeons for this year?

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:35:00 GMT
Apple may be planning to consume the highest-end Penryn-based Xeon workstation CPUs when they launch in the fall, according to reported Japanese insiders. Although Intel has routinely demonstrated a 3.16GHz, quad-core Xeon model known as the X5482 since its spring Developer Forum in April, the company is said to be reserving this as well as some a...

Apple's stock closes above $160

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:55:00 GMT
Shares of Apple Inc. have closed above $160 for the first, gaining 3.33 percent or $5.21 by the close of trading Friday (final trading price: $161.45). The stock is up over $24, or 18 percent in the past month, and has more than doubled in the past year. The reasons for the surge are unclear, though rumors of opening iPhone development and inclusio...

Column: Zune doesnít have a chance

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:35:00 GMT
With Microsoft's recent announcement of a second-generation Zune, some are wondering if the new Microsoft PMP has any chance of standing up against the iPod juggernaut. Unfortunately for Redmond, the writing is already on the wall: the Zune is totally incapable of competing with the iPod. Perhaps the most touted feature during the Zune 2.0's unveil...

Apple may open iPhone when Leopard ships

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:40:00 GMT
Apple may open up its iPhone to third-party developers who receive the blessing of Steve Jobs when the company ships Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard later this month, according to 9to5Mac. Rumors are circulating that the Cupertino-based company is speaking with partners who develop games as well as applications for the iPhone/iPod, and that it will use the d...

'Halo' developer parts with Microsoft

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:20:00 GMT
Confirming long-standing rumors in the gaming industry, Microsoft has announced that Bungie Studios, developers of the popular "Halo" game series, will officially be returning to independent status. Under the terms of the break-up Microsoft will retain ownership of the Halo intellectual property, but it will only be guaranteed as the publisher of ...

Japanese customers line up for iPod touch

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:05:00 GMT
Roughly 100 eager customers lined up in front of a Japanese Apple Store today to get their hands on the company's new iPod touch, signaling high demand for the portable player in that region. AV Watch reports that the iPod touch went on sale today and that the first man in line to purchase the device arrived as early as 1:30 a.m. local time. The 10...

IK announces software, StompIO release date

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:20:00 GMT
IK Multimedia today announced several new pieces of hardware and software at the AES trade expo. At the top of the list is ARC, standing for Advanced Room Correction. The program is said to offer the first acoustic room correction system in DAW plug-in form, working in tandem with standalone software and a calibrated microphone. The combined ARC...

Nike debuts Nike Amp+ wristwatch, remote

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:20:00 GMT
Nike on Friday unveiled the Nike Amp+ Sport Remote Control, a wristwatch and remote control for Nike+iPod Sport Kit users. The watch provides instant voice feedback of a runner's time, distance, calories, and pace when added to the Nike+iPod Sport Kit and Nike+ Ready shoes. Nike also touts the watch as a stylish, unique timepiece when worn without ...

French law may impede Orange iPhone deal

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 14:05:00 GMT
A law meant to protect public choice may delay the arrival of the iPhone in France, one newspaper reports. French publication Les Echos writes that under the terms of the law, the iPhone will have to be sold with and without contracts, thereby preventing Apple from forming an exclusive deal with French carrier Orange. The paper writes that Apple ...

PED3 stand shipping for iPhone

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:05:00 GMT
Thought Out is shipping a new iPhone stand, the PED3. As opposed to the company's earlier PED2, which could only hold an iPhone horizontally with an optional attachment, the new stand is capable of both positions out of the box, and can rotate within a full 360-degree range. It is built entirely out of solid steel, and its black surface coating h...

BlackBerry sales unfazed by iPhone

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 12:45:00 GMT
Research in Motion's profits from its BlackBerry smartphones have doubled in the first financial quarter of competition with the iPhone, the company revealed late yesterday. Although Apple said it had sold more than one million iPhones weeks before the end of the September quarter, the California firm's Canadian rival said it had shipped about 3 m...

Labels win $220K lawsuit for music sharing

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:20:00 GMT
In a major win for record companies seeking to establish precedent for prosecuting those who trade copyrighted material on the Internet, a federal jury awarded six firms $222,000 in damages from a Minnesota woman who shared music online. Jammie Thomas, 30, was ordered to pay $9,250 for each of 24 songs that were part of the case. The complaint alle...

Briefly: War Chiefs review, Canada iPhone

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:10:00 GMT
In brief: The wireless Apple Bluetooth keyboard is shipping, REAL World registration has been opened, a GUITAR RIG 3 demo version is now available, the iPhone is featured in a new TV show, and the Boa.XM MacBook Pro case has debuted ... We have posted a review of the "War Chiefs" expansion pack for Age of Empires III. The pack allows play as one of...

Leopard may ship October 26th

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:40:00 GMT
Apple may be gearing up to release Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) on October 26th according to information from sources at Apple Inc. AppleInsider reports that the announcements are likely to arrive any time between the 22nd and 27th of the month. Though the operating system has not yet achieved golden master status, recent builds have seen very short kno...

Apple confirms iMac freeze, promises fix

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:20:00 GMT
Apple on Thursday responded indirectly to the iMac freezing report published yesterday by acknowledging the continued problems, which it said a "small number" of users are experiencing with the consumer desktop. Apple has also promised a fix as soon as possible, according to Macworld (the statement, however, was not provided to other outlets). A co...

Apps: Aperture to Picasa, Jotter

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:10:00 GMT
Aperture to Picasa Web Albums 1.3 ($25) tool for uploading your images to Picasa Web Albums from Aperture. This release features a substantial increase in the performance of the export / upload component of the plug-in. The developer says "Users will see a substantial improvement in the export / upload portion of the plug-in, especially when export...

Casio goes pink for breast cancer awareness

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:45:00 GMT
On the heels of the Special Pink iPod Edition, Casio on Thursday announced that it will release a special-edition bundle featuring a pink EX-Z75 camera (shown at right in a different color), a case embossed with the pink ribbon, and a pink ribbon-clad lanyard to show its support of the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The 7.2-megapixel EX-Z75 is ...

Ableton Live 7 due to ship before 2008

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:25:00 GMT
Ableton today debuted a range of new software scheduled for release before the end of the year that includes Ableton Live 7, several new add-on instruments, and Ableton Suite combining Live 7 with a selection of instruments in one discounted bundle. Ableton Live 7 features an enhanced audio engine for improved fidelity with 64-bit mix summing, POW-...

Apple planning to launch iTunes HD videos?

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:50:00 GMT
Apple intends to revitalize its flagging Apple TV hub by launching HD video downloads on iTunes, according to a rumor from a source which in the past accurately described the iPod touch in advance of its launch. A "selection" of the movies and TV shows available from the company's store would receive a significant step up in resolution from today'...

FCC holds fast on 700MHz open access rules

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:30:00 GMT
FCC chairman Kevin Martin on Thursday backed away from what many believed was an attempt to soften the rules for the upcoming 700MHz wireless auction, according to claims from sources connected to the organization. Although the regulatory chief was feared to be relaxing open access conditions to appease Verizon after the latter's executives lobbie...

M-Audio ships IE-40 reference earbuds

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:00:00 GMT
Audio equipper M-Audio is now shipping its IE-40s, a set of reference-level earbuds. Each bud is fitted with three different drivers, devoted to high-, mid- and low-end end frequencies, and reproduces a range between 20Hz and 16kHZ. Sound is further divided into separate acoustic canals, so that high- and low- end sounds do not intermix. The bud...

Audio Technica reveals tiny CK10 earphones

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:25:00 GMT
Audio Technica today provided a first look at its CK10 in-canal earbuds, an upgrade to the popular CK9. The new set both improves sound quality and fit at the same time thanks to miniaturization. Though each earbud has a dual armature that separates different sound ranges and improves the signal-to-noise ratio to 107dB, both have been reduced in ...

iPhone buffer exploit may lead to jailbreak

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:55:00 GMT
A newly discovered iPhone exploit could help developers find another way to run third-party applications on Apple's device. Posters to the Hackintosh forums have discovered that Mobile Safari on both the Touch and the iPhone suffer from a one year old TIFF buffer overflow exploit that could lead to a jailbreak for the devices. Essentially, opening ...

O2 to push iPhone with new ad campaign

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 18:10:00 GMT
Apple's iPhone service provider in the UK, O2, is planning to embark on a multi-million British pound advertising campaign in conjunction with the Cupertino company later this month. Reuters reports that O2 UK Chief Executive Matthew Key is claiming it will be the "most significant campaign" in period leading up the crucial Holiday season. The CEO ...

EU pushes for lower data, text rates

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:00:00 GMT
The head of the European Commission's Telecommunications section, Viviane Reding, is strongly urging local cellular carriers into drop the prices on their data services and text messaging, says Agence France-Presse. The move follows the installation of price caps on roaming charges, which have been effective since July 30th. The Commission claims...

Analyst: New Zune to harm "Windows" partners

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:20:00 GMT
Microsoft's release of new Zune portable media players are more likely to cannibalize non-Apple players than affect sales of Cupertino-based company's own devices, according to American Technology Research senior analyst Shaw Wu. "As we have long believed, we view the Zune as more of a competitive threat to its Windows Media partners including SanD...

Apple patents 'force input,' DRM tech

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:45:00 GMT
The US Patent and Trademark Office today published several applications made by Apple. Among the most prominent is one titled "Force Imaging Input Device and System," consisting of multiple approaches to developing touchpads and touchscreens for various devices. One approach would have two sets of conductive traces separated by a spring membrane;...