apple

The other Microsoft-Apple battle

Everyone likes to talk about the battle between Microsoft and Apple on the OS front, but that seems like old hat to me. Sure, there's certainly a battle being waged in that space, but is it really as hotly contested as some want to believe? Call me when Mac OS X hits 20 percent market share.

But there is one battle raging between Apple and Microsoft that many people don't even see. No, it's not in the MP3 player market where the iPod reigns supreme, it's in the home entertainment business. More specifically, the battle being waged pits the Apple TV against the Xbox 360.

Now I know what you're thinking -- "isn't the Xbox 360 a video game console and the Apple TV is a media device"? Yes and no. The description of each device may be correct, but the Xbox 360 description doesn't say enough about the console. Aside from its gaming capabilities, Microsoft's product performs many of the tasks already found on the Apple TV -- streaming entertainment, music, movies and TV show viewing and a hard drive that can store your favorite material.

And with an installed base of over 18 million that easily eclipses the Apple TV's 1.7 million installed base, there's no reason to suggest Microsoft can't win the battle and finally deal the Apple TV its death blow. And here's how it should do it:… Read more

Nvidia's 8800 GT now available for older Mac Pros

Apple and Nvidia are finally shipping a graphics card for owners of older Mac Pros who felt left out in the cold in January.

When Apple introduced the newest version of the Mac Pro in January, it offered Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT graphics card as an upgrade option on those systems. Owners of older Mac Pros, however, were miffed that Apple said the cards would only work with the latest Mac Pro generation, because firmware in the card could only support the PCI Express 2.0 standard unveiled with the new Mac Pros.

The thing is, those cards were … Read more

Defiant Psystar back selling Leopard computers

Psystar is back online selling "white box" Macs with a few subtle changes, and one employee has already played the monopoly card.

As you might recall, Psystar's Web site was overwhelmed Monday after it was found to be selling cheap computers with Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled. This caused quite the commotion, as Apple does not license its operating system to other hardware makers, and specifically prohibits (PDF) end users from installing Mac OS X on anything other than an "Apple labeled" computer.

Ars Technica noted that Psystar made several changes to its Web site … Read more

Hands-on with Fring's almost-free VoIP for the iPhone

This morning I've been playing with the prerelease version of Fring's talk software for the iPhone. It enables users to place VoIP calls in place of their plan minutes, giving people a cheap international calling alternative to their carrier's expensive per-minute charges. The one caveat (besides the need for a "jailbroken" handset) is that it requires the thick river of data only available over Wi-Fi, which means you won't be able to make or receive VoIP calls without being in range of a hotspot.

Besides VoIP, the app excels in instant messaging. You can … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 703: No doughnuts, no peace

If Flickr's not buying doughnuts for the world, then Tom's not buying. But he's in San Francisco, so he won't have to buy his own doughnut anyway. It's a doughnut paradox. Also, Psystar lays down the smack on Apple's Mac OS X EULA and really, we only care about one thing today: rocket racing. For real. Rockets. Racing. Awesome. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 703

Psystar: Apple's terms violate U.S. monopoly laws http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=1685

Elusive 'Twitter ads' spotted in the wild http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9919041-36.html… Read more

Review: Leander Kahney's 'Inside Steve's Brain'

For years, the Steve Jobs biography has been a staple of the technology business publishing press.

The genre has been highlighted by titles such as Alan Deutschman's 2000 book, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs and 2005's iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business by Jeffrey Young and William Simon. The latter was attacked by Jobs himself for being an unauthorized biography, and by Deutschman for being eerily similar to his own book.

There was also, of course, Forbes writer Daniel Lyons' (aka "Fake Steve Jobs") 2007 parody, oPtion$: The secret … Read more

Apple cloning: Worth it?

It doesn't take much to put Apple in the news, and this afternoon's excuse is that a Miami-based company called PsyStar is selling a Mac clone.

Its Web site was down earlier--ostensibly because of the overwhelming reaction to its product. As Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports:

Before its site went dark Monday, PsyStar was pitching an Intel-based system it said could be configured to run Leopard, Apple's Mac OS X 10.5. The machine, which was priced at $399 minus Leopard, $554 with it already installed, is powered by a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor … Read more

Apple working on MacBook video fix

Apple has acknowledged video problems with the latest shipment of MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

Early customers of the Penryn refresh of the Apple notebooks had complained of flickering images during a QuickTime video playback on MacBooks and MacBook Pros shipping with the latest version of Mac OS X Leopard, according to our colleagues over at MacFixIt. Several discussion threads have sprung up over on Apple's user forums, and some customers report that Apple has now acknowledged the problem and is working on a fix.

MacFixIt reports that fix should come with Mac OS X 10.5.3, currently in … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 702: Design to annoy

Yes, Microsoft has come clean and admitted that it designs User Account Control, those little pop-ups that happen when you install software for instance, which were in fact designed to annoy you. They hoped it would make software better. We don't think it worked. Also, Rafe gets Blockblustery, and we take on Virgin Media's load of bollocks. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 702

Psystar’s OpenMac Apple clone is close to a cease and desist order http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/14/ psystars-openmac-clone-is-close-to-a-cease-and-desist-order/ http://www.macrumors.com/2008/04/14/ openmac-promises-399-headless-mac-but-not-from-apple/

Vista’s UAC security … Read more

The '500,000-song' iPod isn't surprising

IBM researchers have reportedly demonstrated technology that will increase hard drive capacity 100-fold, as well as offer major improvements in energy consumption (leading to much longer battery life) and better reliability. Production is estimated in seven to ten years.

The reports summarizing the researchers' findings, which were published in Science (subscription required), use the shorthand "500,000 songs on a portable MP3 player" to describe the advance.

Today's iPod lineup contains no product advertised to hold 5,000 songs, so I'm not sure where the 500,000 figure came from. In fact, the current highest-capacity iPod is 160GB, … Read more