What's New - Jul 21, 2004
By: Mike Yocom - Revised: 2006-07-03 devinDownload Slides
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Introduction
What's new for the Mac in the previous month:- General issues, workarounds and fixes
- New Software and hardware
- Software and hardware updates/patches
Section Links
New Apple Software
Apple Remote Desktop 2.0 - This is a tool to remote control to manage Macs.DVCProHD Components 1.1 - All users of Panasonic AJ-HD1200A VTRs should install the latest revision of the DVCPROHD components (1.1).
iPod Software 3.0.1 Updater 2004-07-15 - Includes updates for iPods with a Click Wheel, iPod mini and the third generation iPod.
RAID Admin Tools 1.3.1 - Simplifies setup and monitoring of storage volumes.
Verizon Broadband Access Support 1.0 - This software supports the Express Network PC Card (PC 5220) in Mac OS X, for use on the Verizon Wireless network.
New Third Party Software
(Updates are assumed to be for Mac OS X, not much is being updated for Mac OS 9 nowadays...)Archive 5.1.7 is a disk catalog and search tool.
Dantz Retrospect 6 Driver Update 5.6.102 is a backup driver. The latest release has support for new drives including the EZQuest Boa Slim DVD-RW/CD-RW 4x2x16 (DVR-K13 version).
Detour 1.5 is a tool that allows you to send iTunes music and DVD Player sound to an external set of speakers or headphones while keeping noises from iChat and other programs coming out of the computer's smaller built-in speaker.
Dock-It 2.0 is a multifunctional launcher and Finder enhancer. The new release includes added support for Mac OS X docklings.
Ear Mail 1.0.3 is a utility that lets you listen to email through your iPod
GraphicConverter 5.2.1 is a tool to view, edit, convert most image formats. In the new release, slideshow supports zoom and move and a browser autorefresh option has been added
iPartition 1.02 provides disk partitioning without initializing/formatting.
OmniWeb 5.0rc1 is a web browser. The new release has several stability enhancements.
Opera 7.53 is a web browser. The new release has an enhanced built-in e-mail client and an IRC-compatible chat.
RealPlayer 10 beta is the newest RealPlayer from RealNetworks enables Mac OS X consumers to enjoy hundreds of hours of audio and video content in many of the major Internet media formats.
SMARTReporter 1.0b3 warns of ATA drive failure before it happens.
Software Notes
IT Enquirer has an interview with an ATI representative who addresses some issues with the company's graphics cards and their positioning in the Mac market. Among the issues addressed is that the Radeon 9800 does not deliver hardware rendering from within Maya. ATI has just hired additional staff to work on developer relations with Pro applications like Maya. Read More.Several readers are reporting problems connecting to certain radio streams using the newly release RealPlayer 10 beta. Users are told that they need an uninstalled audio codec, but attempts to install it lead to the message, 'Software is out of date'. The codecs can be properly installed, but multiple attempts may be required.
In response to a customer complaint, Quark Customer Service indicates that they no longer charge anything for their Mobile Licensing Program. This program allows users to run QuarkXPress 6.0 on two computers for non concurrent use.
If you have already purchased the mobile licensing program, you can get $75 coupon good for purchasing Quark products, including printed user manuals or technical support calls. For more information contact Quark Customer Service at 1-800-676-4575 Monday to Friday from 7:00am to 5:00pm MST and choose option 2 from the IVR menu.
eWeek reports that Apple this week released updated versions of developer tools designed to boost acceptance of its Rendezvous zero-configuration networking software in the Windows and Linux developer communities. Read More.
Amid a recent dip in the popularity of Microsoft's Internet Explorer attributed to heightened security concerns, the lauded Mozilla Firefox browser is set for its first final, non-beta release in September. The good news: a Mac OS X version will likely be on tap. Read More.
Hardware News
New Apple Cinema Displays- 20" Maximum resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels; $1299
- 23" Maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels; $1999
- 30" Requires NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL Card; Maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600; $3299
- 20GB model for $299 (Available Now)
- 40GB model for $399 (Available Now)
Apple has announced that rechargeable batteries in the new iPod have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. They add that battery life and number of charge cycles vary by use and settings. Read More.
There are still a number of flat-panel iMacs available through eBay, and various mail-order and retail outlets. Supplies are running low however -- Small Dog Electronics, for instance, has only 34 20-inch screen iMacs left and marginal quantities of other models.
During its third quarter fiscal results call, incoming Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer admitted that the next-generation iMac -- due in September -- will sport a G5 processor. Read More.
Connect with music like never before behind the wheel of a BMW 3 Series, and X3 and X5 SAV or Z4 Roadster. With the installation of an integrated adapter developed by Apple and BMW, you can now control your iPod or iPod mini through the existing audio system and multi-function steering wheel. Read More.
The Dension ICE-Link 1.1 takes the place of your external CD Changer to provide iPod audio through your car's speakers. Track control from radio and steering wheel controls are provided. Read More.
IDG provides details on the US Army's Xserve-comprised supercomputer. It is a "1,566-node supercomputer that's expected to be capable of as many as 25 trillion floating-point operations per second." Read More.
Apple has posted a developer note for the revised PowerMac G5 models introduced in June, 2004. Among the highlights of the developer note is a description of the new liquid cooling system. There is also a note that the new 1.25 GHz frontside bus on the dual 2.5 GHz model supports up to 8 GBps of data throughput per processor. The new note is available in HTML and PDF formats.
Apple has extended its iBook Logic Board Repair Program. It now covers replacement of the logic board in iBook models manufactured between May 2001 and October 2003 that are experiencing specific component failures including:
- Scrambled or distorted video
- Appearance of unexpected lines on the screen
- Intermittent video image
- Video freeze
- Computer starts up to blank screen
Sony is making a belated entry into the large-disk MP3 player market with two new devices: the $400 20GB Network Walkman NW-HD1 and the $500 40GB Vaio Pocket VGF-AP1L. Read More.
The Lian Li V1000 is an all aluminum PC case that looks suspiciously like he PowerMac G5. Read More.
Retail News
Apple has stopped taking orders for the current iMac as they begin the transition from the current iMac line to an all-new iMac line which will be announced and available in September.Business Week's "Info Tech 100 Scoreboard" listing the IT companies that are "the biggest, the fastest-growing, most profitable, or have the best returns", Apple ranked #74. Read More.
MacNewsWorld discusses the "Five Steps" Apple needs to take to ensure success in the enterprise market. Read More.
According to Apple, in its first week, the European version of Apple's iTunes Music Service has sold over 800,000 songs. Read More.
Dell is offering 15 GB Dell Digital Jukebox (DJ) music player for $99 after mail-in rebate to customers who "send in an iPod for recycling for a limited time." Read More.
An analyst with Smith Barney sees a stock decline in Apple's stock price -- attributed primarily to the company's announcement that a lull in iMac availability would exist over the next two months -- as a buying opportunity. Read More.
Apple has reached the 100 million song-sale mark on its iTunes Music Store. Read More.
The Wall Street Journal Microsoft is preparing its own download store for launch in the fall. They expect Microsoft to try and best Apple with a bigger selection, more features and other twists. The software giant is also teaming with hardware maker Creative Labs to build a portable player supposedly cooler than the iPod. Read More.
The New York Times notes that Apple is focusing on making the iTunes music service as much an experience as a store, and is enhancing features to turn casual browsers into repeat customers." Read More.
Issues
MacFixIt reports that there is a conflict between the Adaptec 2930CU SCSI card and both the Giga Designs 1.2 GHz and the Sonnet 1.2 GHz upgrade cards. The most commonly reported issue was kernel panicking. Simply removing the SCSI card temporarily resolved the issue.Some have reported problems with reading CDs and DVDs after applying the iMac SuperDrive update. In most instances, inserted media will spin up but not mount on the desktop. Possible solutions include:
- Boot into Open Firmware and type the following lines: reset-nvram <enter> set-defaults <enter> reset-all. To restart when you are done, type: mac-boot.
- Boot into Open Firmware and eject the CD/DVD by typing the following lines: eject cd <enter>. To restart when you are done, type: mac-boot.
- Reset the PRAM restarting and holding down Command -Option-P-R until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
- Boot into Safe Mode by holding down the shift key when you startup. Check if media can be properly read and inserted/ejected. If so, there is likely a problem with a file in the /System/Library/Extensions, /Library/StartupItems or /System/Library/StartupItems. Check these areas for recently added files and remove them from the folder (keeping a copy of each) until the issue is resolved.
- Opera 7.51 for Windows
- Opera 7.50 for Linux
- Mozilla 1.6 for Windows
- Mozilla 1.6 for Linux
- Mozilla Firebird 0.7 for Linux
- Mozilla Firefox 0.8 for Windows
- Netscape 7.1 for Windows
- Internet Explorer for Mac 5.2.3
- Konqueror 3.1-15redhat
Some users report that "Automatic" Network Location is not working properly with Entourage 2004. The best workaround is to have separate locations for each connection method and switch to the appropriate network before starting Entourage 2004.
Clicking the Mail button in iPhoto, when the chosen email client is Microsoft Entourage 2004, produces a new message with a 0k attachment instead of the selected photo. Two solutions include:
- Use iPhoto Mailer Patcher, which adds support for other email clients and also seems to solve the Entourage issue for some.
- Edit the actual AppleScript called " Microsoft Entourage.scpt" found in Contents/Resources/Scripts in the iPhoto package. The line to edit may be different depending on your version of iPhoto 4. For some users, change "make new attachment at new_message with properties {file:(this_imagefile as alias)}" to "make new attachment at new_message with properties {file:(this_imagefile_path)}". For other users, change "make new attachment at new_message with properties {file:(this_imagefile_path as alias)}" to "make new attachment at new_message with properties {file:(this_imagefile_path)}
Mac OS X in Brief
For those with accounts, MacFixIt has posted a Special Report that talks about "Troubleshooting Mac OS X 10.3.4". Read More.eWeek notes that with the public preview of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" everyone is raring to pit Tiger against 'Longhorn.' Both Apple and Microsoft products showcase new search systems, built-in RSS readers, new scripting shells, and 64-bit support in their next-gen operating systems. Read More.
Energy Saver fails to remember sleep or wake-up settings for some users after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.3.4. Others report experiencing system freezes when attempting to open Energy Saver. Some have discovered that some USB devices - particularly optical mice - prevent proper automatic sleep or wake-up.
On a related note, Apple has a Knowledge Base Article describing a few techniques for resolving Energy Saver problems, including deleting Energy Saver Preference and Finder Preference files, as well resetting the PRAM.
For some users, Mac OS X 10.3.4 does not properly mount some disk images, CDs, FireWire drives, network volumes, and other devices. The disk image mounts but is not viewable in the Finder sidebar nor on the desktop. The one common factor seems appears to be the ATI Radeon 9800 graphics card although the problem has been reported with other graphics cards, from ATI and other manufacturers. Possible solutions include:
- Remove the graphics card.
- Using the "df" command in Terminal.
- Open and manipulate files on the problematic volumes/images using Terminal.app.
General News
AIDG News Service reports that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will not immediately start a national do-not-e-mail list, despite a law passed last year that calls for the agency to develop a plan for such a list. Read More.IDG News also reports that MasterCard is partnering with NameProtect, Inc. to combat card fraud. NameProtect will use its Internet detection technology and systems to monitor a variety of online information sources to identify new fraud campaigns. Read More.
The Boston Globe looks at the current state of liquid cooling options for personal computers, including some notes about Apple's new liquid-cooled PowerMac G5. Read More.
Sony and McDonald's have teamed for a promotion -- similar to the Apple/Pepsi campaign -- that allows Big Mac purchasers to redeem special codes for downloadable music from the Sony Connect store. Unfortunately, the service is not yet Mac OS X compatible.
The New York Times reports that last week a federal appeals court in Boston ruled that federal wiretap laws do not apply to e-mail messages if they are stored, even for a millisecond, on the computers of the Internet providers that process them - meaning that it can be legal for the government or others to read such messages without a court order. Read More.
USA Today notes that according to opponents of the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act in the Senate, the legislation could endanger the iPod and similar devices. Read More.
The New York Times reports that Steve Jobs is looking to tear down the 1926 Daniel C. Jackling estate, a moldering manse designed by George Washington Smith. Jobs recently described the structure as "one of the biggest abominations of a house I've ever seen." Read More.
The Boston Globe reports that Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original Macintosh designers, surfaced at Macworld in Boston, where he consented to join a panel marking the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh computer. Read More.
A British Web developer has revealed a new form of a cross-site scripting, or XSS, attack that facilitates phishing activities. The attack, demonstrated by the developer on his own site, allows an attacker to execute scripts in the context of another Web site. Testing by eWEEK.com indicates that the attack works on both Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (Release Candidate 2) and on the Mozilla Firefox 0.9.1 browser." Read More.
Cool Stuff
Trans International has introduced the SwiftData 200, which enables a terabyte or more of internal SATA storage for the PowerMac G5.The set-up allows users to add three more drives beyond the G5's two-drive design limitation without altering or replacing any of the original components of the computer. Read More.Giga Designs has introduced 1.4 GHz and 1.5 GHz PowerPC G4 upgrade cards for the PowerMac G4 Cube line. The new "M series G-celerator" uses the PowerPC 7457 which has lower power consumption and 512KB of on-chip L2 cache. The G-celerator M7 Cube will ship in June 2004 and is priced at US$599 for the 1.5GHz version and US$499 for a 1.4GHz version. Read More.
Alpine has finally given a mostly-firm date for its new in-car iPod interface, the KCA-420i. The connector is one of the most promising iPod car adapters out available. It is tentatively scheduled for a "late September" release. Read More.
The ASP Space Aquarium is an aquarium that, "eliminates the awkward edges and angles associated with conventional aquariums." Read More.
Disguise and protect your laptop inside a Pizza delivery box. The PowerPizza box is fully lined with 13mm of protective foam and is designed so you can use your laptop without removing it from its disguise. Read More.
A maker of cufflinks now has a line that has built-in tiny clocks, compasses, and thermometers for $50. Read More.
Sony has taken its impressive X-Brite/X-Black LCD flat-panel technology out of its VAIO notebook computers and placed it in a couple of new standalone monitors, the 17-inch SDM-HS74P for $600 and the 19-inch SDM-HS94P for $850. Both share a native resolution of 1,280 x 1,024.
Duke University will distribute 1,650 20 GB iPods to incoming freshmen to keep for free. iPod will be preloaded with orientation schedules, calendars, campus tours, even the Duke fight song. Read More.
Events
macosxlabs.org Webcast - July (Archived)- Subject: Apple Remote Desktop 2
- Presenters: Nader Nafissi, Apple Computer
Jason Prell, University of Iowa - Moderator: Fred Reynolds, Apple Computer
- Click here for viewing instructions
- Location: CompUSA #264-Salt Lake City
1830 South 389 West, Market Place Shopping Center,
Salt Lake City, UT 84115 - Date: July 22, 2004
- Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM US Mountain
- Registration Information: Click here
- Location: Dearborn, Michigan
- Date: July 21-24, 2004
- Registration Information: Click here
- Sessions Information: Click here
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