Cnet claims that Cingular has confirmed a release date for June 11th. This is also the date for the start of WWDC. We’ve a feeling June will be a busy month for Apple… and our credit cards.
Now Cingular is confirming that the release date will be June 11. A customer service manager at Cingular (we called 800-947-5096 and were transferred to sales) gave us that date late Thursday, but, alas, said he didn’t have any additional information beyond that.
Apple has filed for a new patent titled “cosmetically uniform reflective border area in a transflective display,” relating to liquid crystal displays with a reflective border area when the display is turned off.
“One embodiment of the present invention provides a transflective display in which a border area adjacent to an active area has a reflectivity that is substantially the same as the active area when the display is turned off. This display includes a polarizer layer, a color filter glass (CFG) layer, a liquid crystal layer, and a reflector layer. The CFG layer contains color filters in the active area, while the border area of the CFG layer is designed to have a reflectivity that is substantially the same as the active area when the display is turned off.”
So basically… when the device is off, it looks opaque or solid. When the display comes on, it appears to shine through the once solid enclosure. If you’re still confused - it’s like the Sony A1000 walkman. It looks like there is no screen when the device is off and then voila - the screen appears when you turn it on. Like magic, eh!
Apple today revealed “Complete My Album”, a new feature for the iTunes Storethat allows customers to turn their individual tracks into a complete album at a reduced price by giving them a full $0.99 credit for every track previously purchased from that album. Customers have up to 180 days after buying the individual songs from any qualifying album to purchase the rest of that album at a discount: someone who has bought three $0.99 songs from a $10 album, for example, can buy the rest of the album for $7.02 - saving them both the need to re-purchase tracks they already own as well as the time needed to download them again. The feature is available across all currently active iTunes Stores worldwide and automatically creates a retroactive 180-day offer for any singles purchased by customers before today.
Bloomberg reports that Apple, Dell, Sony and five other technology companies were added to an ongoing lawsuit over patents covering Bluetooth technology. The suit is being brought by Washington Research Foundation, a non-profit organization.
The suit threatens the ability of the computer and device makers to deliver wireless capabilities to customers. The companies are accused of infringing four patents covering technology that lets users exchange data among mobile phones, personal computers and other devices without using cables.
The suit is specifically aimed at CSR, the maker of the Bluetooth chips used in Apple’s computers. CSR believes the “suit is without merit in relation to CSR’s Bluetooth chips and CSR will defend its products rigorously.”
Apple has released Boot Camp 1.2 beta, the latest release of the company’s software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP and Vista. Changes in this release include: support for Windows Vista (32-bit); updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (synch), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera; support the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player): a Windows system tray icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions; improved keyboard support for Korean, Chinese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Russian, and French Canadian; improved Windows driver installation experience; updated documentation and Boot Camp on-line help in Windows; and Apple Software Update (for Windows XP and Vista).
Not totally sure about this but posting it out of interest nonetheless. Apple could be about to preview Logic 8 tomorrow online so as not to overshadow announcements next month at NAB. The application could potentially be renamed as it’s such a massive overhaul. Having been under development for the past 5 years, it has features such as a brand new drum engine, built-in tuning and timing module (similar to Melodyne), innovative time stretching loops and improved movie scoring tools. Hopefully that all made sense to someone, we’re not very “into” music applications. NAB starts Sunday 15th April and is likely to bring Final Cut Pro 6, updated Mac Pros and Final Cut Pro “extreme”. How exciting…
Update: So it didn’t happen today… but we didn’t really expect it to. There are murmurings of it being out tomorrow though.
Then you can still use the old one: feed://www.macshrine.com/feed/. The FeedBurner one just made it easier for us to track statistics.
Adobe has shifted over half a million downloads of its Photoshop CS3 beta, the company has confirmed today. This news has been confirmed on Adobe’s John Nack’s blog. It confirms the level of pent-up demand among Mac users as they await the final release of a version of Photoshop for Intel Macs. Adobe will formally introduce Creative Suite 3 at an event on 27th March, the event will be webcast globally. The software is expected to ship “in spring”, the company has said.
This week Fergie got knocked down to 3 and replaced by the new duet “Beautiful Liar” with Beyonce and Shakira. Everything else moved around a little as well except for Daughtry who dropped out.
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Apple confirmed on Thursday that Sony will join the iTunes Store with several new television shows. “News Radio,” “Till Death,” the original animated version of “Spiderman,” “Starsky and Hutch” and “Charlie’s Angels” will all be available for purchase from the store later today. Sony joins some 60 other channels already available on the iTunes Store including NBC, CBS, ABC, A&E, Spike, Fox and TLC.
TechRestore.com have taken the new Apple TV apart. They posted some pics for you folks are might be interested for some reason…
After numerous requests over the past few months we’ve put the Forums back up. We closed it down back in September so the content isn’t the newest… but once it gets started again it’ll be good as new. All of you who are members already will be receiving en email soon reminding you of your username and details on how to reset your password. We hope to see you all there! There will be even more changes coming in the next few weeks to bring MacShrine back to its former glory.
Fergie shoots up to the stop spot with “Glamorous” replacing Mims “This Is Why…”. Avril Lavigne stays at 4 and Gwen rises to 8
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Apple today released iTunes 7.1.1 via Software Update…
“iTunes 7.1.1 addresses a stability issue and minor compatibility problems in iTunes 7.1.”
Could all of you who are subscribed to MacShrine RSS please make sure it’s to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MacShrine. If it’s not then please change it ASAP. It’s just easier for us to track statistics… thanks again!
Update: The redirect should be automatic now to anything who hasn’t changed it manually. Thanks to Stephen for the hint.
Uh oh… We here at MacShrine are skipping this update and just holding out for Leopard. Why have all Mac OS updates recently been causing crashes? Is Apple just slacking as Leopard is coming out soon?
The 10.4.9 update hung my computer, and its been hanging other people’s as well. Mine ran and reported an error, then failed to fully restart the computer - it just sat there on my wallpaper with no finder or menu bar for ages. I powered the system down and then up again and it just hung on the gray Apple boot screen with the swirling circle. After 15 minutes I tried again, no love. Disk Repair from the install DVD made some minor repairs but never solved the problem. In the end I made a disk image of my drive onto an external and did a reinstall, which seems to have gotten me back on track, all my apps, files, settings, etc, are all in tact, apart from a couple of stray System Preference add-ons I had, and my Account photo is AWOL. Not bad, all things considered.
I back up, I’ve got DVD-Rs with loads of stuff squirreled away, but clearly a regular disk image routine is also in order for times like these. Lesson learned… until Time Machine comes along!
In the past week, we’ve received 2657 comments which are spam - that’s nearly 380 a day! Just thought you might be interested… It’s pretty incredible. Just imagine how much spam an even more popular site must get. Apparently 95% of all comments are spam.
Apple has started charging AppleTVs to customers who had pre-ordered one. This means that they’re about to ship!
Thanks to Gerald Buckley
Apple today released Mac OS X 10.4.9 via its Software Update utility and on the Web. Apple says: “The 10.4.9 Update is recommended for PowerPC and Intel-based Mac computers currently running Mac OS X Tiger version 10.4.8 and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes or compatibility updates for the following applications and technologies: RAW support; handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes; image capture performance; mouse and keyboard shortcuts: font handling; playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player; USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat; Bluetooth devices; browsing AFP servers; Apple USB Modem; Windows digital certificates; Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs; time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007; and security updates.
Update: Apple has now removed it from the site.
Apple UK has started showing some new ‘Get A Mac’ ads. These include: “Naughty Step” where PC suggests that doing fun stuff should be punishable; “Magic” where PC exchanges a file with Mac to much funfair; and “Court” which examines how easy it is to make a photo book.
Apple has released QuickTime 7.1.5 and iTunes 7.1 via its Software Update pane and on the Web. Apple says: “QuickTime 7.1.5 delivers numerous bug fixes and addresses critical security issues. This update is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.” With iTunes 7.1 you “can now enjoy your favorite iTunes movies, TV shows, music, and more from the comfort of your living room with Apple TV. iTunes 7.1 also supports a new full screen Cover Flow and improved sorting options to let you decide how iTunes should sort your favorite artists, albums, and songs.
Mims is at number 1 with “…Why I’m Hot” on both the iTunes and Billboard charts this week. Avril is also racing up with her comeback single “Girlfriend”, did you know there are also Japanese, Cantonese, Spanish, Italian and French versions of the track?
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