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  • Swad
    Cupertino, start your photocopiers. Please.
     
    Microsoft is planning to introduce "Live Drive," a .Mac-style solution for Windows in which users can store files, backups, and other items directly from their Windows Vista machines. Initial reports indicate that users may be given up to 2 GB for free, with the option to purchase more. No word on syncing capabilities or other features.
     
    While the details are still sketchy at this point, Live Drive sounds like a very promising addition to Vista... and one of the first about which I'm genuinely excited (which may be the only Genuine thing about my Vista installation). While it's quite obvious that Microsoft is taking yet another page out of the Apple book - and I'm not sure there are many pages left - tight Microsoft "Live" integration could very well leave .Mac in the dust. Free Email, free storage, and free syncing will likely bring Apple users to question the value of a .Mac subscription when Redmond offers similar features for free.
     
    So, Apple, let me be one of the many to implore you to make .Mac free. Today. You've done it before, let's do it again. Take a page from Vista's playbook and, as always, make it better. Then recycle that page to make Greenpeace happy.
     
    (Just in case Apple needs a month or two to ponder my proposition, we'll have a list of free .Mac substitutions in a few days! Stay tuned.)
  • REVENGE
    Adding some more fuel to the battery fire, it appears that there are major discrepancies between the US Consumer Product Safety Administration's site and Apple's Battery Recall site on the issue of which serial number batteries actually need to be recalled. For example, regarding 12-inch iBook G4 batteries, "the CPSC lists battery serial numbers 6C510-6C626 while the Apple site has it listed a 6C519-6C552." As it stands now, the CPSC lists more hazardous batteries than Apple, but Apple is only providing recall service to the batteries listed on its own website.
     
    So which party farked up the attempt at fixing the farkup? Things aren't clear at the moment, but it appears that Apple may be to blame for this one, for its battery recall site is also rejecting what according the site are valid serial numbers. Apple has thus far not commented on (or corrected) these issues.
     
    If you have an identified hazardous battery part, tell us about your experience with Apple's battery recall program.
     
    UPDATE: The CPSC site has now revised its chart to match the Apple Site's chart.
  • REVENGE
    After battling it out in the courts, it seems that Apple has finally given in to Creative on the issue of which came first, the iPod UI or the Zen UI. Apple has agreed to pay Creative $100 million dollars to obtain a license to use an user interface; in addition, Creative has now been included into Apple's "Made for iPod" program, allowing it to put the coveted "Made for iPod" logo on its products and accessories.
     
    This settlement comes after Creative and Apple mutually asserted this year that its user interface design came first, and that one stole the other's design. After filing for a patent in 2001, Creative was awarded the patent for their user interface back in 2005, centering around the interfaces ability to allow "portable media player players to navigate and select tracks." Then, in May of this year, Creative took legal action, suing Apple for patent infringement and asking for an injunction to stop the sale of the iPod and iPod Nano. Apple subsequently countersued Creative, alleging that they were the ones who were infringing, but as Apple's user interface patent filing was rejected, Creative had the upper-hand in this situation.
     
    The fact of the matter is that Creative's user interface design goes back all the way to their Nomad Jukebox players, which were first released in 2000. Unfortunately for Creative, its line of MP3 players have not enjoyed quite as much success as Apple's iPods. As News.com reports:


    "Creative is one of many companies attempting to chip away at Apple's runaway lead in the market for portable MP3 players. Its Zen products haven't translated into profits, however: Earlier this month, Creative reported a $12.7 million loss on slowing sales for its fourth quarter. The company expects the $100 million settlement to add 85 cents to its earnings per share figures for its current quarter." Guess we finally know who was "creative" after all.
  • Swad
    Apple today announced that it was recalling 1.8 million lithium-ion Sony batteries used in notebook models including the iBook G4 and 12- & 15-inch PowerBook G4. MacNN has the details:


    Batteries that shipped with 12-inch iBook G4 laptops eligible for a free replacement under the recall display a model number of A1061, with serial numbers: ZZ338 through ZZ427, 3K429 through 3K611, and 6C510 through 6C626.
     
    12-inch PowerBook G4 notebook owners eligible for a free replacement under the recall must possess a battery with model number A1079, displaying a serial number falling within ZZ411 through ZZ427 or 3K428 through 3K611.
     
    Batteries that shipped with 15-inch PowerBook G4 notebooks eligible for a free replacement under the recall display model numbers of A1078 and A1148, with serial numbers: 3K425 through 3K601, 6N530 through 6N551, and 6N601.
     
    Apple estimates roughly 1.1 million faulty battery packs were sold in the U.S., with another 700,000 sold outside the country.
     
    Apple is suggesting users remove the recalled batteries and contact the company to arrange for a free replacement, free of charge. Users requiring the use of their systems are advised to plug their laptops into the AC adapter until a replacement battery arrives.
  • Swad

    Is a Mac really more secure?

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    Good reading from Infoworld's Tom Yager regarding what has to be the nastiest piece of Window's malware I've seen. I think it's safe to say that most Windows users - even conscientious ones - have had a least one or two "Thank God for that backup image." moments due to malicious code... I know I have.
     
    At the end of the article, Tom dissects what allowed the exploit to occur on his Windows box and (you saw this part coming, didn't you?) then explains why something similar couldn't happen under OS X.
     
    I'm no server guru, so I'll take Tom at his word. I do know, however, that pride always comes before a fall, and while OS X is indeed more secure, I'm of the opinion that any dominant OS is going to be exploited.
     
    What do you think? Is Windows more vulnerable by its very nature or does OS X have similar but unique security questions?
  • Swad

    Azureus 2.5 released

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    For those who are still longing for the perfect OS X torrent app... well, you'll probably have to wait a little longer.
     
    Azureus 2.5 was released a couple of days ago, however, and after playing with it, I'll have to say it's an improvement over previous Universal builds. One of the best features is the ability to - gasp! - open a torrent by clicking on it from your desktop. Seriously. It's in the changelog. For those needing a little more power than what Transmission can give (along with a little less RAM), the app of the blue frog may be the answer.
     
    Azureus is free and can be downloaded from SourceForge.
  • Swad

    ATI introduces 5 new video cards

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    ATI announced today 5 new video card models, some of the first product announcements since the purchase of ATI by AMD. All of the models are within the x1000 line. Starting with the cheapest, we've got the Radeon X1300 XT, Radeon X1650 Pro, Radeon X1900 XT 256 MB, ATI’s Radeon X1950 XTX and X1950 CrossFire. Interestingly, both X1950 are priced the same (USD $449).
     
    [H]ardOCP (mentioned to us in Reader News by embries) had this to say about the new high end models:


    TI has proven they are a leader and not a follower with the X1950 XTX. ATI has released the world’s first consumer 3D graphics card with GDDR4 memory clocked at the highest ever stock speed that chews through games when it comes to high definition gaming. Memory bandwidth looks to one again be the defining factor in 3D performance. With a re-designed heatsink/fan unit, faster memory, and lowered price, the ATI Radeon X1950 XTX and CrossFire Edition are both serious 3D gaming video cards for the [H]ardcore that offer some value over NVIDIA’s more expensive 7950 GX2. ATI’s CrossFire dual GPU gaming platform looks to have just grown up. Anandtech notes that ATI is moving to simplfy its product lineup to just 8 card models:


    - ATI Radeon X1950 XTX
    - ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB
    - ATI Radeon X1900 GT
    - ATI Radeon X1650 Pro
    - ATI Radeon X1300 XT
    - ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
    - ATI Radeon X1300 256
    - ATI Radeon X1300 64-bit With Apple using a GeForce card in the standard configuration of the Mac Pro (something carried over from the Power Mac G5), we're still unsure if we'll see variations of these cards in future Macs or, instead, a move away from ATI by Apple. What are your thoughts?
  • REVENGE
    Five Apple Retail employees were fired recently for illegally obtaining a pre-release version of Leopard floating around on the usual Bit Torrent sources. The employees were overheard discussing their actions (presumably obtaining, installing, and using the pre-release Leopard), and when news of this incident reached Cupertino, Apple launched an investigation ending in the admission by all the employees of their illegal actions. This is not surprising considering two years ago, Apple had tracked down and sued 3 individuals who it claimed were the originators of the leak of Tiger before it had been officially released. That case was eventually settled out of court with the defendants.
     
    One terminated employee said: "All of us know that we violated our NDA and ethics policy. Therefore, because we had the character to tell the truth and to face the consequences of our actions, we were terminated." The employee wonders if such "drastic penalties" were warranted for this situation, remarking that: "My only question is, if we all lied and denied it would we still be working at Apple today? Even more so, is that the kind of person that Apple wants working for them?" Perhaps this should be considered wise advice to posterity, as Apple claims there could be more "terminations" in the future.
     
    Thanks to Xiberia for posting this in Reader News!
  • Colonel
    Microsoft has been fighting against Mozilla Firefox for years now by pushing directing people back to Internet Explorer (which had adopted several of Firefox's features). They've also made certain webpages that don't display correctly with Firefox. Ars Technica notes, however, that new developments might be evidence that the browser wars are cooling.


    Last Saturday, Ramjii posted a message in the newsgroup "mozilla.dev.planning" asking Mozilla's Mike Schroepfer and any other Firefox developers if they'd be interested in visiting the Windows Vista Readiness ISV Lab. Ramjii said that he's made a special exception for the Mozilla team since this isn't how the lab invitations normally work.
     
    As part of my mission as an advocate for open source applications on Windows, I've gotten spaces set aside at the Windows Vista Readiness ISV Lab. In the past the company has only invited commercial software developers to these labs. I'm committed to evolving our thinking beyond commercial companies to include open source projects, so I went to the non-trivial effort of getting slots for non-commercial open source projects.
     
    We don't know yet if Mozilla has accepted the offer, we do know that someone from Mozilla who goes by the name of Mike Schroepfer responded to the email by saying, "I believe we are already in contact with your team via email. We will follow-up there." This sounds like a good response for Mozilla... but you never know. If this is what will get Firefox into Vista at launch, I'll be happy.
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