All .Mac users will be pleased to know that Apple has generously upgraded our bandwidth allotment to 1TB! Could this be in preparation for something at Macworld? Perhaps storing and synchronizing video files between computers? Weren’t ther rumors a while back that the Mac mini would get Front Row 2 support which included streaming heavy video files, this could confirm it’s introduction. Whatever the reason, thanks Apple!
As I’ve nothing to do until tonight, I modded up the sidebar. I added handy links to all Apple hardware and software sites, as well as listing all the Intel processors coming out in 2006 and 2007 (we might as well start learning all the names). Also there is a new Subscribe box that lets you subscribe to MacShrines news feed quick and easily. So enjoy and happy new year!
BBC News reports:
Jonathan Ive, the man behind Apple’s iconic iPod and iMac, has become a CBE in the New Year Honours list. Apple said in a statement: “We are as proud as could be that Jony is receiving such a prestigous commendation.”
Congratulations to Jonathan!
Almost forgot to post this! I wanted to do it today because erm, tomorrow is 2006 and this is a prediction for 2006, so.. yeh. What do you guys think Steve will be showing off at Macworld? Here are our predictions…
Mactel introduction
Bring on the Mactel iBooks! I want everything ThinkSecret said would come, it would be an awesome start to the new year, which is also Apple’s 30th anniversary, oooh. Also other Intel Macs…
Mac OS X 10.5 preview
I think if Apple are launching a new platform they’ll want to show off a new Mac OS platform. Expect more amazing tools which we’ll barely use. Who has actually touched Automater since they installed Tiger?
iLife ‘06
The obligatory yearly update… Hopefully some new tools such as podcast creation and .Mac tool. Hopefully it’ll stay at it’s current price, you never know with Apple. Also, it’ll probably be Mactel compatible.
iWork ‘06
Let’s admit it, the first iWork release was a flop. Hopefully Apple have learnt their lesson and will present us with a strong competitor to Office. Updated Pages and Keynote, along with Numbers (spreadsheet) and FileMaker Express (datebase)?
iPod shuffle
New colors, bigger capacities, smaller size and cheaper pricing.
Before I doddle off, I want to wish all our readers a happy and prosperous new year. Also, best of luck to Apple on their Intel move!
The iPod has been named the second greatest gadget of the past 50 years by the editors of PC Magazine. The Sony Walkman, which is an obvious inspiration for the iPod, took the number one spot. PC Magazine does take a moment to call the first generation iPods ‘nothing special,’ and notes that it was with support for the PC and higher capacity drives that iPod sales took off. When did you buy your first iPod? Mine was in November 2003, I got a 20GB 2nd gen iPod.
AppleInsider claims that according to “reliable sources”, Apple has contracted out the motherboard design for the next-generation PowerMac to Intel. According to the site, Apple has its current resources spread so far across the planned Intel iMacs, PowerBooks, iBooks and Mac minis that outsourcing the PowerMac motherboard design may help them keep a targeted ship date of the 3rd quarter of 2006 for the next-generation PowerMac. The design is expected to take place within the Intel Apple-Group which was quietly formed in November. Outsourcing PowerMac motherboard design to Intel may have some interesting consequences regarding control and exclusivity of the design. As well, it exposes the PowerMac designs outside of Apple, which could be a source of future leaks. Of course, the PowerMac case design will remain under Apple’s control.
Most of you have probably figured that when we meant “November”, we really meant “when it’s ready”. The road has been uberly long, we started development of MacShrine 5.0 in March 2005, re-started in May, re-started in July, stopped in September, before re-starting in November and stopping again in early December. We’ve been quite confused on which direction to take the site, hence all the re-startations (that even a word?). But anyway, that was the past and we’ve got to look onto the future, especially to the new year 2006!
So after a long, hard think, we came to the conclusion that we should stick with the same embodiment that empowered us when we first started the site. Today marks the beginning of MacShrine 5.0. We’re now using WordPress 2.0 instead of our in-house solution iGelato. This isn’t because iGelato sucked, far from it, I thought it rocked and so did the 500,000 of you that have visited us since we started, but because WordPress have their own development direction, thus we then have a direction and a timeline to plan things by. Currently you see a bog-standard WordPress installation. I can assure all our readers, that come February 2006, we’ll have the most freakin’ amazing thing you’ll ever have seen. Not only that, but the site will return to it’s roots and become a lot more personal. We’re not some huge media company, just a group of friends who set out to become a worthy source of Mac-related news, rumors and everything else! With 10 world-exclusives, 6 server crashes, half a million unique visitors and over 13 million page views we feel we’ve accomplished that.
To end this half-rant, half-announcement I once again would like to thank everyone of you who have made us what we are. Here’s to 2006, what a year it’ll turn out to be! 
Last week as we were all getting ready for Christmas, Symnatic announced there was a serious security flaw in 40 of their products. This includes all versions of Norton AV. Symantec calls this a ‘high risk’ vulnerability that could allow a remote user to gain control of a computer, even a Mac, that’s running any of their affected software. The ZDNet Australia article where the problem was reported, poses an important security question:
“As the owner of a Powerbook I am faced with a dilemma. Do I pay AU$118.15 for a flawed ’security’ application that is designed to protect me from threats that do not seem to exist; or do I take sensible precautions like keeping my computer behind a firewall and staying up to date with OS X patches?”
Honestly though, who actually performs virus checks on their Mac… We sure don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a fix for the problem yet.
On behalf of the MacShrine team I would like to wish all our readers are happy Christmas! We’ll be taking a short break this weekend from posting news, but we’ll resume again on Monday. Many thanks to everyone who has made it possible for us to see MacShrine through to its 2nd Christmas. So once again, have a super holiday weekend!
TUAW writer David Chartier has an interesting post about the possibility of Apple previewing Mac OS 10.5 Leopard at Macworld. I don’t think anyone has actually considered this before, but after reading his points, it really does make sense for Apple to at least give a “one more thing…” preview of their new OS. Apple generally has a 4 month gap from previewing and realising major OS updates, if Apple was to launch alongside Microsofts Vista next Summer, they would have to preview it in January. Hehe, 2006 is going to be one hell of a year and that’s a fact!
Apple has made available through its iTunes Music Store a couple of free to download video clips:
Saturday Night Live Short - Lazy Sunday
Sci Fi Inside: Battlestar Galactica
They respectively last 2′31″ and 21′03″ and they’re available for free on the U.S. iTunes store. This is the first time Apple offers free videos for download on iTunes. Perhaps Apple will start a “free video per week” campaign like they did with music when the Store opened.
Security researcher Tom Ferris has posted details on a security vulnerability that affects the latest versions of Apple’s iTunes and QuickTime software. A specially crafted .mov video file could cause a heap overflow and potentially give an attacker the ability to execute arbitrary code. Ferris first reported the problem earlier this month and says he notified Apple at that time. He says both Mac OS X and Windows machines are affected, as are older versions of iTunes and QuickTime. Security firm Secunia has rated the vulnerability “moderately critical”.
With the release of various updates today to Apples Pro software range, it has been noticed that Apple has pushed up piracy protection. Users downloading the new Soundtrack Pro update will be greeted by a screen asking them to enter their Apple ID and serial number. Is this a sign of things to come? We really don’t hope so…
Apple today released an update for its pro image application Aperture. The update is available through the software update utility and its web site. The update offers the following changes and improvements:
Aperture 1.0.1 Update addresses a number of issues related to reliability and performance. It also delivers improved image export quality and metadata handling. Among the key areas addressed are:
White balance adjustment accuracy and performance
Image export quality
Book and print ordering reliability
Auto-stacking performance
Custom paper size handling
This update is recommended for all Aperture users.
Also released today was an update for Soundtrack Pro. The update wieghs 41.6MB has the following description:
About this update
Soundtrack Pro Update (version 1.0.2) gives audio and video professionals a powerful way to edit and design sound.Soundtrack Pro waveform editor includes innovative action layering and intelligent repair and restoration functions that let you accurately manipulate audio while retaining total creative flexibility. And, with support for video formats up to HD resolutions, full multitrack editing and mixing, over 50 professional effects plug-ins, and thousands of included Apple Loops, precise audio control has never been so intuitive.
This update is not for the version of Soundtrack that ships with Final Cut Pro, which is alrady numbered 1.2. More information about this update can be found here.
Not every Apple store in the United States took the day off on Thanksgiving. A comment on MacDailyNews, has someone identifying himself at Robert A. Jones says he visited The Gateway (Utah) store on Thanksgiving day, and wandered inside to find about 15 other visitors strolling the aisles. One of the visitors told him that no employees were on-duty and Jones noted that visitors were orderly and honest. Speculation is that an employee at the newish store forgot to lock up the night before allowing visitors to enter on Thanksgiving.
A post on Mac OS X Rumors reports:
A reader of the French site MacGeneration also pointed out that the Powerbook 15″ is now considered as being in EOL status on some Fnac stores in Belgium. The EOL status is also reflected for both the 12″ and the 15″ models on the Fnac Belgium online store.
MacBidouille is reporting that the iBook 12″ is also EOL’d in the French retailer’s online store. This puts all of Apple’s current notebooks at EOL status, confirming the arrival of new notebooks at Macworld, if true.
Research analysts at Taipei Times are predicting that Apple will be introducing a new “light-weight and stylish” notebooks in 2006 to lure more female users. The new iBooks models expected are a 12″ at 1.5kg and a 14″ at 2kg. The report doesn’t mention anything about the rumored 13.3″ iBooks. The reliability of this information is uncertain.
Users wanting to purchase an iPod shuffle at the Apple Store will be disapointed when they are greeted with the message: “Sold out for holiday. Expected availability mid-January”. So this pretty much confirms that at Macworld we will see a smaller, lighter iPod shuffles in new colors. This echoes back similarly to the launch of the iMac G5, when Apple expected users to stop purchasing the iMac G4. Perhaps we will also see a raise in the iPod shuffle capacity, 1GB-2GB perhaps?
According to this report by The Register, it appears that Apple has axed their plans to add ringtones to the iTunes Music Store. The plan was that you could purchase ringtones and then mix them in GarageBand before transferring them to mobile phone. The new feature was reported to be a headline feature of iLife ‘06 at Macworld. No explanation was given for the feature drop. There have also been rumors of satellite radio integration in iTunes, but there has been no word on that for months, so maybe that too has been dropped.
AppleInsider has found a Front Row job listing (ID #2443440) at Apple. The job is described as follows:
Do you want to join a team building revolutionary new multi-media software for Mac OS X? Would you like to create software for a centerpiece in Apple’s digital hub? If so, then the Platform Experience Department is looking for you. We are looking for a proactive, highly motivated engineer to work on Apple’s new Front Row digital media technology.
Looks like we could be in for a treat at Macworld, *cough* iLife ‘06. Now if only we got that rumored Mac “media edition” mini to go with it. Also don’t forget, 2006 is Apples 20th birthday!
AppleInsider is reporting that the development of the next Mac OS X update (Mac OS X 10.4.4) is winding down. Tipsters say the latest developer builds of the software are accompanied by only a few outstanding issues. According to sources and reports already present on the Web, Mac OS X 10.4.4 stands to deliver over 120 bug fixes to the Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” operating system. Targeted areas are said to include audio, AppleScript, Bluetooth, Dashboard widgets, DVD Player, graphics, graphics drivers, iChat, Safari, and Spotlight.
If Apple’s update schedule in recent years is any indication, Mac OS X 10.4.4 should see a release just prior to the Apple’s holiday break which occurs near the last week of December. The most recent developer release of Mac OS X 10.4.4 is rumored to be build 8G22.
Morgan Stanley analyst Rebecca Runkle claims that Apple will likely start selling a cell phone to fend off competition from telephone makers that are adding digital music players to their devices. Runkle wrote that an iPhone could generate $1.2 billion in sales and add 9 cents a share to 2006 in earnings. “We believe market share and new product opportunities accelerate even more than we expected in 2006.”
The Motorola ROKR/E1 was released in September, but has been seen as a failure by many. High return rates coupled with low sales put doubt on wether Apple’s relationship with Motorola will continue. There has been a buzz that Apple might hook up with Nokia, but again, nothing seems to have come of that. Motorola is still expected to release more phone with iTunes in the new year, that could be the make or break moment for the 2 companies.
With Macworld less than a month away, everyone is gearing up for the launch of the new Mac Intel hardware line, especially the rumored iBooks and new Mac mini. But it seems someone is trying to spoil the party by spreading rumors that there will be no launch. Derek “I know someone at Apple” Picone is reporting that he was told by a friend at a “senior” position at Apple, that there would be no new hardware. Apparently when new hardware is released, employees are asked to attend Macworld, this time though, they haven’t. So make what you will of that, we’ll still be here saving up for our new iBook!
According to AppleInsider, Apple is going to release its own set of music accessories to enhance the iPod experience in January. They will be called “iPod companions” rather than “iPod accessories” though. They claim, among these accessories will be an iPod boombox with two boombox kind speakers and an iPod dock. It may be capable of streaming audio and storing music it in a hard-drive.
Hopefully we’ll also see an update to the Airport Express with an added iPod dock to stream video and music content from the new iPod video. Also with news of a media hungry Mac mini coming in January too, it looks set that Apple plans to dominate the media experience.
